By Lim Yong Teck and Clara Yuan/Red Sports
Lim Rui Bin (HCI #10) controls the ball against Samuel (ACSI #5). (Photo 1 © Clara Yuan/Red Sports)
PESEB, Tuesday, April 7, 2015 — Hwa Chong Institution (HCI) rode a strong second-half effort to a 11–5 victory over Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) in the bronze medal playoff of the National A Division Water Polo Championship.
“We defended well and attacked well as a team,” said Nicholas Yau (#2).
HCI, who finished second in last year’s championships, were unable to make the final, as they were narrowly defeated in the preliminaries by Raffles Institution and defending champions Anglo-Chinese Junior College.
The HCI captain added, “This season was heart-wrenching because we lost narrowly to RI and ACJC, but we picked ourselves up after the matches and played our hearts out for this match.”
Ho Say Kiat (#3) and Darren Ng (#9) led HCI with hat-tricks, while ACS(I)’s Efren (#7) also had three goals of his own.
Just seconds into the game, Ho (#3) put in the opener to give HCI a quick morale boost. Soon after, Tok Yin Jie (#5) added one more to increase HCI’s lead to two, but Efren (#7) responded with his own to maintain a one-goal deficit at the end of the opening quarter.
ACS(I) were relentless on the defensive end and constantly hounded HCI’s fielders. Holding their ground, ACS(I) held their opponents to a lone goal by Ng (#9) to trail by two goals at the end of the half.
The story of the second half was all about HCI.
Good ball movement and execution gave HCI the upper hand, and sparked by Ho (#3) and Ng (#9), they outscored ACS(I) 8–4 in the frame. Ho (#3) and Ng (#9) each scored two goals in the second half to help HCI close out the six-goal victory.
“I feel that my team did the best they could. It was one of our best matches for the season. We came here today to play for the fun of waterpolo,” said ACS(I) captain, Ryan Phua (#1).
He added, “Though we are less experienced, I feel that we did our best. I’m honoured to be able to lead this team.”
Score by Quarter
HCI vs ACS(I)
1st quarter: 2–1
2nd quarter: 1–0 (3–1)
3rd quarter: 5–2 (8–3)
4th quarter: 3–2 (11–5)
Scorers
HCI
Ho Say Kiat (#3) – 3 goals
Darren Ng (#9) – 3 goals
Tok Yin Jie (#5) – 1 goal
Pius Peh (#6) – 1 goal
Darren Lim (#7) – 1 goal
Lim Rui Bin (#10) – 1 goal
Brendan Low (#12) – 1 goal
ACS(I)
Efren (#7) – 3 goals
Samuel (#6) – 1 goal
Zac (#12) – 1 goal
HCI Roster
Tsang Bao Xian (#1), Nicholas Yau (#2), Ho Say Kiat (#3), Kenneth Tan (#4), Tok Yin Jie (#5), Pius Peh (#6), Darren Lim (#7), Vincent Chung (#8), Darren Ng (#9), Lim Rui Bin (#10), Gabriel Loye (#11), Branden Low (#12), Johann Lee (#13)
ACS(I) Roster
Ryan Phua (#1), Edmund (#2), Steven (#3), Joshua (#4), Samuel (#5), Julian (#6), Efren (#7), Sean (#8), Harold (#9), Daniel (#10), Mark (#11), Zac (#12), Justin (#13)
More photos next page
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