By Lorna Campbell
Suhailah Kariman holds possession for Singapore. (Photo 1 © Mookken Chandran/Red Sports)
Toa Payoh Sports Hall, Friday, December 6, 2013 – Singapore overwhelmed the United States of America 75–23 to secure a top-two finish at the Nations Cup. The win sends Singapore into a final against Uganda.
After a nervous start in the opening quarter, they soon found their rhythm and tempo and had a 14-goal advantage after the first 15 minutes.
Midway through the second quarter, goal shooter Cassandra Soh suffered an injury that forced her to retire with Yu Meiling, a consistent scorer this week, coming on in replacement. Singapore kept their momentum going, closing the first half leading 33–13 with a place in the final well within their grasp.
The second half continued in the same fashion with Singapore able to rotate their team to give everyone in the squad some valuable court-time and still stretch ahead comfortably. The final whistle blew on a 75–23 victory, Singapore’s largest winning margin of the competition.
Captain Lin Qingyi said, “We had a really tough match against Uganda last time so we have to figure out a plan and hopefully we can get a good result out of it tomorrow.”
Coach Ruth Aitken added, “We have got to work really hard and be united. We have been given another chance against Uganda to redeem ourselves and we must show Singapore that we have learnt from our experience.
“Uganda go in as the favourites and they deserve that based on their performances but we have to be really tenacious in our defence and confident in our attack. Sport is an amazing thing and we are going all out to win tomorrow.”
Shooting statistics for Singapore
Cassandra Soh: 23/27 (85%)
Chen Huifen: 11/14 (79%)
Yu Meiling: 22/26 (85%)
Charmaine Soh: 19/22 (86%)
14th photo is GS Yu Mei Ling not chen lili
Thanks for spotting that mistake, Pg.