Story by Nicole Lum/Red Sports. Photos by Lee Jian Wei/Red Sports
Rukmini (GD) of Raffles Institution was unsuccessful in intercepting a pass made to Jody Leong (GA) of Anglo-Chinese Junior College. (Photo © Lee Jian Wei/Red Sports)
Temasek Polytechnic Sports Complex, Monday, May 18, 2015 — Defending champions Raffles Institution (RI) qualified for the final after beat Anglo-Chinese Junior College (ACJC) 50–27 in the semi-final of the National A Division Girls’ Netball Championship.
Entering the semi-final with a 6–0 win-loss record, RI dominated all of their games, even winning one game by 60 points. Although ACJC displayed similar control in their games, they were no match for the defending champions in their first loss of the championship.
ACJC managed to gain a three-point lead in the beginning of the first quarter. The team’s Goal Keeper played a pivotal role with her defensive rebounds that forced a few turnovers. However, several fouls committed by ACJC subsequently saw RI steal the advantage by one point (11–10) by the end of the first quarter.
ACJC’s momentum dropped in the second quarter as their passing accuracy deteriorated. This allowed RI to easily intercept ACJC’s loose balls, as well as suppress their offense. Moreover, despite her inconsistency in converting at the net, the RI Goal Shooter’s offensive rebounds extended RI’s lead to 24–16.
RI had a strong circle defence that was helmed by their aggressive Goal Defence. Thus, ACJC found difficulty in playing past the RI players. As ACJC were unable to improve on their passes, RI dominated yet again in the third quarter to lead by 18 points (38–20).
ACJC came out fighting in the final quarter. Their Goal Keeper, who succeeded in preventing a few RI goals, gave her team many opportunities to add to the score. However, their inaccurate passes restricted them from driving the ball to the net and as a result, RI outscored them by five points.
With good co-ordination from their Wing Attack, RI eventually took the 50–27 victory by the final whistle.
RI’s team captain, Tessa Wong, said, “We are not very satisfied with our performance actually. We thought our attack was a bit messy but we were also quite pleased that we never gave up, continued to fight and improve slowly over the quarters.”
When asked about the team’s poor progress in the first quarter, Tessa explained: “We took a while to settle in at their attacking pace. They were quite strong.”
“I think settling in fast, having that composure and being daring to play at our own attacking pace is crucial for our final game,” she concluded.
For Shakila, ACJC’s team captain, she felt that her team’s performance “was okay overall”. She said, “We had a bit of a slow start, but we managed to pick it up towards the end where we played a little better. However, we had a few mistakes here and there that accumulated.”
“We made a lot of mistakes that got to us. Even though we tried to keep the confidence level up, it was too late in the game to capitalize on that,” Shakila added.
With this result, ACJC, who was last year’s silver medalists, will move on to play for the bronze. On their preparation for the last game, Shakila said: “We just have to take in whatever our coach says. There are a few more training sessions before our game on Friday so we will work on our play, make it smoother and try to minimize our small mistakes which we could’ve cut down on today.”
On Friday, 22 May, ACJC will play Hwa Chong Institution in the 3rd/4th playoff at 12.45 pm. Following that at 2.30 pm, RI will battle River Valley High School for the title of the championship. Both games will be held at Toa Payoh Sports Hall.
Scoring by Quarter
ACJC vs RI
1Q: 10–11
2Q: 6–13 (16–24)
3Q: 4–14 (20–38)
4Q: 7–12 (27–50)
ACJC Roster
Amanda Quek, Jody Leong, Wen Sze, Shakila, Lishal Chanya, Alesha, Vivien, Joli
RI Roster
Isabelle Belangan, Tessa Wong, Freda Mah, Tang Jei Min, Yvonne Goh, Rukmini Roy, Ayshath Zasella, Grace Tay, Nadia Quek, Geraldyn Leong, Natalie Rodriguez, Eyu Yan Yan
More photos next page
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