SEA Games Bball: Singapore beat Myanmar to win bronze, first bball medal since 1979

The Singapore players celebrate their bronze medal after their win over Myanmar. (Photo 1 by Peh Siong San for SSC)

Myanmar, Saturday, December 14, 2013 – Singapore won their fourth straight game with a comprehensive 89–52 victory over hosts Myanmar at the 2013 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.

The victory in their final game means Singapore finish with a 4–2 win-loss record and win the bronze medal. The last time Singapore won a SEA Games basketball medal was a bronze in 1979, 34 years ago.

Defending champions Philippines retain the gold medal while Thailand finish second.

Against Myanmar, Ng Hanbin had a game-high 20 points, including four 3-pointers. Teammate Delvin Goh scored 12 points.

“No words can describe my feelings now,” said Hanbin, who almost missed the trip to the SEA Games. “I really hope all doubts and skeptics about the National team and the coaching panel have been dismissed. I am truly happy and blessed to be part of this history making team.”

The team’s field-goal shooting was 50 percent (33 out of 66 attempts) and they were a collective 8 of 25 (32%) from 3-point range.

Said Joe So, Singapore’s assistant coach: “I thought we went into the game pretty focused on getting the result. The whole team were frantically trying to find out the Thailand – Malaysia score as livestats for the game weren’t available.

“The coaching staff are all elated on securing the bronze medal which was last achieved in 1979. We are also happy to coach this team of players who have shown that with hardwork and discipline, we are able to match up to teams in Southeast Asia now.”

Singapore lost their opening two games against Thailand and the Philippines but kickstarted their campaign when they registered a significant win over Malaysia to start a four-game winning streak.

Singapore captain, Desmond Oh, was an understandably proud man.

“Feel very proud about getting this medal because we are part of this history-making team as Singapore has not gotten a medal for the last 34 years. Hopefully we will continue to improve and not rest on our laurels. We hope that the next group of national players to be will look at this and know that all this is possible with hard work. Am really proud to be in the team as the captain because the team is very disciplined and hardworking,” said Desmond.

Singapore narrowly missed out on a bronze medal in 2003 when assistant coach Joe So was the captain. The current Singapore head coach, Neo Beng Siang, was also the head coach then.

For Lim Shengyu, the journey back from surgery was satisfying.

“After my surgery, there was a lot of self doubts. I doubted my ability to recover and come back for the SEA Games. I am very grateful to the coach [Neo Beng Siang] for giving me the time to recover and opportunity to participate in this SEA Games. I am very happy to be a part of this group of brothers who have worked together to achieve this result. I definitely look forward to training better and towards achieving a better result in 2015.

For Hong Weijian, who suffered a horrific knee injury which curtailed his Singapore Slingers career, this was certainly a new high in his basketball journey.

“Ecstatic!” said Hong Weijian. “It’s a great honour to be part of this history-making team. Basketball in Singapore will never be the same again.”

“I am personally not satisfied with my own performance in this SEA Games but am very happy for our achievement as a team,” said Wu Qingde. “I would like to thank everyone who have supported us throughout this tournament and we will work even harder to achieve better results in any international tournament we play in. I would also like to thank the coaching staff who had given me the opportunity to come to this tournament.”

“I just joined this group for a short period of time,” said Khaw Yeong Wooi. “I feel that this team is very bonded and everyone had a common goal. We achieved the goal because of the effort we put in and the belief that we have in each other. I think we have the potential to do better in 2015 as the team is young and we will continue to work harder to improve.”

Score by Quarter
Singapore vs Myanmar
1st Q: 34–10
2nd Q: 19–11 (53–21)
3rd Q: 20–14 (73–35)
4th Q: 16–17
Final Score: 89–52

Singapore
Ng Hanbin (#6) – 20 points (4 x 3-pointers)
Delvin Goh – 12
Chase Tan (#9) – 9
Russel Low (#15) – 9
Wong Wei Long (#5) – 7 (1 x 3-pointers)
Wu Qingde (#7) – 6
Larry Liew (#11) – 6 (2 x 3-pointers)
Jabez Su (#4) – 6
Desmond Oh (#8) – 5 (1 x 3-pointer)
Hong Wei Jian (#10) – 4
Khaw Yeong Wooi (#13) – 3
Lim Shengyu (#12) – 2

Myanmar
Wang Jia – 17
Aung Phyo Wai – 8
Thein Than Aung – 7
Nyan Linn – 6
La Ja – 5
Kyi Htwe – 4
Aung Ye Gaung – 3
Pyae Sone Kyaw – 1
Sei Thu Tun Tun – 1
Sett Mon Min – 0
Yan Yong Bin – 0
Zaw Min Soe – 0

SEA Games Basketball – Final Rankings

2013 SEA Games Men's Basketball Standings

2013 SEA Games Men's Basketball Fixtures