Story by Koh Yizhe/Red Sports. Photo by Jerald Ang/Red Sports
Team Singapore celebrating after they beat Indonesia 8–1. (Photo 1 © Jerald Ang/Red Sports)
Kallang Softball Field, Monday, June 8, 2015 — The Singapore softball girls ensured they would finish with a medal after they beat Indonesia 8–1 in their final group stage match at the 28th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.
Earlier in the day, Singapore lost to Thailand 2–5 to put their hopes of a medal on the rocks. However, they put in a solid performance against the Indonesians, establishing an early lead before building on it to cruise to victory. Singapore finish the group stage with a 2–2 win-loss record.
“We were definitely nervous heading into the match, but it was a good nervousness,” said captain Magdelyn Chow. “We did well to recover from the defeat and fight back to win the game. We knew that if we had a good start, we could seal the game.”
“Our performance today really was all rounded. I’m glad the team gave their best.”
From the first inning, Singapore went on the attack. Ching Sue Mae (#7) and Michelle Koh (#11) opened the scoring before they repeated the feat in the second inning to give Singapore a 4-0 lead. Indonesia put points on the board through Yuka Ramadina (#23) at the top of the third, but Singapore scored a run of their own to make it 5-1.
The next two innings were a breeze as Sharon Choo scored one in each of the fourth and fifth innings while Michelle scored her third run of the match to end the contest after five innings.
The result means they will face Philippines in the winners’ semi-final after they finished first in the group stage. Previously, Singapore held the favourites to two runs in the first five innings before allowing six in the last two innings.
“That match was a real wake up call for us,” recalled Magdelyn. “We kept up with the favourites until that point. We had quite a lot confidence heading into this match despite the defeat to Thailand because the wake-up call was in the previous match. I knew we would recover and I am very glad to have secured a medal.”
Singapore will play the Philippines in the semi-final on Tuesday, June 9 at 9am.
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