Double double for CHIJ's netballers
CHIJ girls romp to another double triumph
They bagged a double last year and CHIJ Secondary (Toa Payoh) extended their dominance of schools' netball yesterday, when they retained the B Division and C Division national crowns at the OCBC Arena.
In the B Division final, CHIJ were too good for Dunman Secondary and coasted to a 36-23 win.
Their junior girls won even more emphatically, beating the Singapore Sports School 39-19 to retain the C Division title they have held since 2013.
CHIJ coach, Kok Mun Wai, singled out centre Michelyn Manoj for her consistent displays for the Under-14 team.
"She has been hardworking and consistent throughout the whole season.
"She is one of the vital links between the defence and attack," Kok told The New Paper.
Michelyn, 14, will join the B Division team next year and is full of confidence.
"It's good to be able to pass on the (CHIJ) netball spirit onto our juniors and we hope that they will continue to do the same," she said.
There were around 300 screaming fans at the arena by the time the B Division final started and the Dunman team began brightly, forcing their opponents into mistakes.
But CHIJ ended the first quarter 9-4 up.
A fired-up Dunman tried their best to narrow the gap in the second period, but were stopped by the work of goal defender Alena Rae Ong and goal keeper Tina Leong, as CHIJ went into the half-time break 17-9 up.
They never looked in danger from then and easily wrapped up victory.
"We started off shaky and it took us quite awhile to settle down," said wing attack and vice-captain, Claudia Yip.
"We didn't end the second quarter well despite our good start, but we came back even harder in the third and fourth."
Coach Kok paid tribute to Claudia's hard work, when she said: "Claudia played very well today. She was the one doing the drives and bringing the ball down to the attacking half."
Captain Alena, one of the four in the team who are graduating this year, expressed her bittersweet feelings after the game.
"I really enjoyed being a part of this team and it's really sad that this is going to be the last time that we play together," said Alena.
NATIONAL SCHOOLS NETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS
C DIVISION
1. CHIJ SECONDARY (TOA PAYOH)
2. SINGAPORE SPORTS SCHOOL
3. RAFFLES GIRLS' SCHOOL
B DIVISION
1. CHIJ SECONDARY (TOA PAYOH)
2. DUNMAN SECONDARY
3. SINGAPORE SPORTS SCHOOL
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