Story by REDintern Siti Rohaniza Muhammad. Photos by Lim Yong Teck/Red Sports.
Georgii Tsypniatov (#9) of Russia controls the ball against Brandon Cheong (#10) of Singapore during the group stage match of the World University Floorball Championship at the OCBC Arena. (Photo 1 © Lim Yong Teck/Red Sports)
OCBC Arena, Wednesday, June 18, 2014 — Singapore (SIN) suffered their first defeat at the 6th World University Floorball Championship (WUFC) after falling 4–6 to Russia (RUS) in a close match.
With the loss, Singapore now stand second behind Russia in Group B with two wins and a loss after second day of competition.
Both teams came into the match undefeated, with both winning their previous matches with double-digit margins.
For Russia, majority of the players come from NarFU Northern (Artic) Federal University and most of them play for the same Russian club, FBC Zarya. The rest of the players also play for other top clubs in Russia, which includes FB Pomor and FBC SPb United.
This gave the Russians more playing experience together, as compared to the Singapore team, that have only been training together for the past five months.
The Russian team also included a national floorballer, Valentin Saranskiy (RUS #18) who has had a vast amount of competitive experience. The team was led by forward, Aleksandr Sharapov (RUS #4).
The first few minutes of the game provided a good preview of how both teams are on par based on their floorball skills. However, Russia proved to be the team with the advantage with their speed and physical size. This allowed Russia to score the opening goal of the match before the fifth minute, through an unmarked Aleksandr Sharapov (RUS #4), who was assisted by Yury Rotanin (RUS #58).
Russia went on to take shots on goal but Singapore’s goalkeeper, Yeo Kai Xiang (#28), made numerous outstanding saves that wowed the crowd. He made two amazing consecutive saves, which denied Russia of a lead extension.
Mah Jian Yong (SIN #6) picked up the first two-minute penalty for Singapore. During the box play, Singapore almost managed to get a breakthrough during a counter attack, but the Russian goalkeeper was able to save the shot.
Shortly after Mah Jian Yong (SIN #6) rejoined the match, Lee Renji (SIN #26) was given a two-minute penalty for a lying play and Singapore once again found themselves at a disadvantage. Despite the numerical advantage, Russia failed to capitalize on the opportunity as they saw most of their shots saved by Singaporean goalie, Yeo Kai Xiang (#28).
After Lee Renji (SIN #26) re-entered the match, a free hit from Muhammad Afiq (SIN #41) and Brandon Cheong (SIN #10) almost allowed Singapore to find the equalizer but the shot hit the top of the goal post. They soon had another chance when they were awarded a free hit right in front of the Russian goal but failed to convert the opportunity.
With most of the Singaporean players focusing on attack, a quick counter from the Russian team extended the lead to two goals. Andrei Nikiforov (RUS #10) took advantage of the momentary lapse in the Singaporean defence and put the ball past the keeper to end the first period with a 2–0 lead.
Russia scored within the first minute of the second period with a quick counter by Ilia Veshniakov (RUS #7).
However, Abdul Hadi (SIN #9) responded by scoring off a rebound to give Singapore their first goal of the match.
Russia then continued their attack on the Singapore goal, but goalkeeper Yeo Kai Xiang (SIN #28) managed to deflect the goal. Russia’s Pavel Burev (RUS #79) did an airhook in the front of the goalpost, and scored before the Singaporean defence could recover from Russia’s earlier attempt.
Muhammad Azhari (SIN #23) was awarded a two-minute penalty just five minutes into the second period for incorrect pushing. Russia once again failed to capitalize the advantage. The second period saw more fouls being committed and both sides became more aggressive during the challenges.
With less than five minutes on the clock, Singapore’s captain, Glendon Phua (#20) narrowed the deficit to two after scoring off a rebound and placing it into the top right corner of the Russian goal post.
Seconds later, Lee Renji (SIN #26) was given a two-minute penalty for a high stick in front of the Singapore goal post and Russia was awarded a penalty shot. However, goalkeeper Yeo Kai Xiang (SIN #28), managed to save the penalty which was taken by Andrei Nikiforov (RUS #10).
The play boosted morale on the Singaporean bench. In the last minute of the second period, Hazmi Bin Hasan (SIN #99) reduced his team’s deficit to a single goal with an excellent assist from Muhammad Azhari (SIN #23).
Singapore managed to come back from three goals down to a single goal deficit (3–4) at the end of the second period.
The opening minutes of the last period saw Russia extending their lead to two goals after Aleksandr Kuznetsov (RUS #15) calmly converted a well-delivered pass from Valentin Sranskiy (RUS #18).
Singapore then called a timeout halfway through the last period to re-strategize. However, things took a turn when Abdul Hadi (SIN #9) was injured after a clash with a Russian player near the Russian end of the court. Hadi had to be stretchered off to get treatment for his ankle.
With them losing a key player, Singapore conceded their sixth goal when Russia’s captain Aleksandr Sharapov (RUS #4) converted an accurate pass from Yury Rotanin (RUS #58).
Not backing down, Singapore responded through Calvin Lim (SIN #71) who confidently put the ball past the keeper’s right ear and into the top left corner of the Russian net, reducing the deficit to two goals with seconds left on the clock.
Despite the hard fight by the team, Singapore went down 4–6 to Russia.
Captain Glendon Phua (SIN #20) was proud of his team’s performance. He commented, “I think the whole team played very well. Everyone stuck to the plan very very well, that’s how we managed to contain Russia. Our coach actually went to watch Russia play before today’s game, so big thanks to him for coming up with the plan.”
“Everyone in the team put their body on the line to make sure we win. Special mention to Hadi (#9) who gave his hardest until he was seriously injured,” added Glendon.
Yeo Kai Xiang (SIN #28) put up a stellar performance as Singapore’s goalkeeper. He said, “I’m just doing what the team and the coach wants me to do. Without them, I wouldn’t have had the performance I had today.”
After two days of competition, Singapore tallied a total of 59 goals, which is the most by any team thus far. Finland, Sweden and Switzerland share the top spot in Group A with four points each while Russia take top spot in Group B with six points. Singapore are second in Group B with four points.
The final group stage matches will be held tomorrow. The Singapore men’s team will face Korea at 4.30pm in Hall 2 of the OCBC Arena. The women’s team will also be playing their final group stage match against Japan at 2pm in Hall 1 of the OCBC Arena.
Singapore vs Russia
Scoring by Period
1st Period: 0–2
2nd Period: 3–2 (3–4)
3rd Period: 1–2 (4–6)
Top Scorer
Russia
Aleksandr Sharapov (#4) – 2 goals
Singapore Roster
Aaron Tan En Jie (#5), Mah Jian Yong (#6), Abdul Hadi Bin Harris (#9), Cheong Zhi Xian Brandon (#10), Cheong Jin Cheng Winston (#11), Heng Wei Zhi Jonathan (#13), Guhen Markandran (#14), Jatin Nair (#16), Huang Junhong Sean (#17), Jared Goh (#18), Glendon Phua Zhi Ming (Captain) (#20), Xie Yanglei (#22), Muhammad Azhari Bin Mas’od (#23), Lee Renji (#26), Yeo Kai Xiang (#28), Muhammad Afiq Bin Shaharudin (#41), Tay Jun Hao (#70), Lim Hanrong Calvin (#71), Seow Jun Hao Mark (#88), Hazmi Bin Hasan (#99)
Russia Roster
Timofei Baskakov (#2), Sergei Lobanov (#3), Aleksandr Sharapov (#4), Ilia Veshniakov (#7), Dmitrii Ena (#8), Georgii Tsypniatov (#9), Andrei Nikiforov (#10), Aleksandr Kuznetsov (#15), Nikita Bocharov (#17), Valentin Sranskiy (#18), Andrei Zakharov (#19), Aleksei Lobanov (#34), Yury Rotanin (#58), Aleksei Seleznev (#68), Sergei Echein (#70), Pavel Burev (#79), Artem Mansurov (#86)
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