Story by Nicole Lum/Red Sports. Photos by Clara Yuan and Soh Jun Wei/Red Sports
Players contesting for the ball. (Photo 1 © Clara Yuan/Red Sports)
Singapore Indoor Stadium, Sunday, December 6, 2015 — In their debut against Thailand at the 8th ASEAN Para Games, Team Singapore tasted defeat with their opening loss of 51–19.
The Thais asserted their dominance right from the start, scoring 16 points in the first quarter while Singapore only managed four. Despite that, the home team put up a valiant effort and calmly held on, registering a better score of 7–12 (11–28) in the next quarter.
The third quarter saw Thailand extend their lead to 41–17 as Singapore faced a scoring drought in the first five minutes. The visitors, who were much faster and had tighter defence, gave Singapore little chance to add to the score. However, Thailand did not fully capitalize on their free throws as the team made less than half of them.
Muhammadnurden Arbah (#13) helmed the Thai offence in the closing quarter, making two baskets to bolster their lead to 32 points. On the other end, Singapore struggled to make their first basket. Nevertheless the team continued to fight on, and it was Choo Poh Choon (#7) who broke the drought midway through, scoring Singapore’s first and only two-point shot. Thailand eventually secured the 51–19 victory.
Singapore team captain Choo Poh Choon (#7) was satisfied with his team’s performance. “It was a really tough fight but I think the team did well,” he said. “Even though we lost, the spirit of the team was good and we did not let them pull too far away.”
“We thought that it would be much worse,” Choo explained when asked about their expectations going into the game against the defending champions.
Singapore maintained their composure throughout the game and was even seen dancing during the half-time break. On that, Choo said: “We asked the team to take it easy, enjoy themselves and enjoy the atmosphere. We knew that the stakes were high but we wanted to enjoy every minute of the challenge.”
Singaporean supporters packed the Indoor Stadium, giving rousing cheers to the athletes every few minutes of the game. “I want to thank all the supporters for coming down here. We could hear everyone cheering for us and that actually gave us more energy,” added Choo. “We were quite surprised. We didn’t expect the turnout to be so big. The audience were so vocal and the team was very hyped up.”
Singapore’s next game will be played against Myanmar at 6 p.m. on Monday, December 7, 2015 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. “I hope we can give a better fight in the next match because if we win it, we will be challenging for a medal,” Choo concluded.
Score by Quarter
Thailand vs Singapore
1st quarter: 16–4
2nd quarter: 12–7 (28–11)
3rd quarter: 13–6 (41–17)
4th quarter: 10–2 (51–19)
Singapore Roster
Khoo Seng Wah (#4), Goh Thean Tye Dexter (#5), Lee Michael Kah Poh (#6), Choo Poh Choon (#7), Mohd Kamas (#8), Ng Chong Ping (#9), Chua Chong Hoi (#10), V Vijayan (#11), Pa In Suhaimi (#12), Abdul Jabbar Mohamed Hussain (#13)
Thailand Roster
Roongrote Chaiman (#5), Niwat Kongta (#6), Visut Sukon (#7),Surasit Nirat (#8), Jakkapan Jansupin (#9), Tawatchai Jaisin (#10), Athin Singdong (#11), Pongsakorn Sripirom (#12), Muhammadnurden Arbah (#13), Kwanchai Pimkorn (#14), Noppadol Wannaborworn (#14), Aekkasit Jumjarean (#15)
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