Contributed by Krist Ng
The NYP IVP basketball team. Back row (L to R): Wang Junting, Poh Kai Qin Millicent, Yukie Yoshida, Angie Neo Pei Ting, Au Li Jun, Wong Shu Qing, Bon Sek Hui. Front row (L to R): Nelly Chua Wee Xin, Zoey Chua Jing Yi, Koh Sing Hong, Eileen Low Wei Ling, Toh Shi Wei, Yeo Szeyee Lois, Fuji Ng, Chew Su Bing. (Photo courtesy of Fuji Ng/NYP)
“Prove yourselves to be worthy opponents,” said Zhang Yuan Yuan, the basketball coach of Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP).
And that was exactly what NYP did despite losing 55–62 to Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in the final of the Institute-Varsity-Polytechnic (IVP) Women’s Basketball Championship earlier this year.
“It wasn’t unexpected,” said Su Bing (#7), captain of NYP. “I just felt that even though we lost the game, we (actually) won as a team.”
Bon Sek Hui (#9), a final-year NYP student, agrees and added: “We knew very well that NTU is at a higher level than us, both skills and experience wise.”
“Having the opportunity to play against NTU in the final and being able to put up a strong fight for the first three quarters was our greatest achievement this season, bearing in mind that we didn’t have a good season last year,” added Sek Hui, referring to the 2012 POL-ITE Championship where NYP had finished fourth.
NYP were seen as the dark horses for the IVP championship. In the semi-finals against Temasek Polytechnic (TP), NYP came back from 20 points down in the second quarter to defeat TP 62–61.61.
This is the first time NYP have made it to the final of IVP Women’s Basketball Championship.
Ng Shi Mei (#44), another final-year student from NYP, attributed part of their success to one of her teammates, Yukie Yoshida (#21), the only national team player on the team, who shared her expertise during trainings.
“Honestly, I’m not good with communication so all I can do on court is to be super encouraging while giving little bits of advice at the same time,” shared Yukie.
The former captain of NYP added: “I want to make sure each of them knows that someone is looking out for them as they put in their 100% on court, and I will praise them simply because they try.”
“I really appreciate having this batch of girls [as teammates]. This is the happiest team I’ve ever met. Playing basketball, or any kind of sports, should be this way – if we enjoy playing together, we will definitely improve together as well!” Yukie added.
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