Thailand down Singapore in floorball final
| THAILAND | SINGAPORE |
| 8 | 4 |
They had the best defence in the tournament before the final, conceding just one goal in four matches, while scoring 54 goals in the process.
But the flood gates opened against the Singapore men's floorball team last night, as they lost 8-4 to Thailand in the inaugural Asia-Oceania Floorball Confederation (AOFC) Cup in Bangkok.
Two years ago, Singapore had thrashed Thailand 9-0 to win the South-east Asia (SEA) Games final in Singapore.
But it was the Thais who were dominant from the get-go at the Chulalongkorn University yesterday.
Finland-born Jimmy Holmstrom and Alexander Rinefalk, born in Sweden, scored for the home team in the second and eighth minutes in the first period respectively, amid passionate cheering and flag waving among the Thailand supporters in the indoor arena.
Then Sattaya Phoosinoi's 16th-minute effort put the hosts 3-0 up.
Singapore's Nicholas Siew and Tristan See replied with one goal apiece to hand Singapore a lifeline, but the Thais maintained a stranglehold on the lead for the rest of the game.
Three other Thais added their names to the score sheet, as Pawat Thaidit finished with a hat-trick.
This tournament was Singapore's first since the restructuring of the national team this year.
Twenty players were picked after a selection trials in April to join a pool of 30 existing players in the national training squad.
The 20 players in the AOFC Cup team were picked from the 50-strong squad.
Singapore coach Matti Joutsikoski said: "This is a young team, with seven players who are new to the squad.
"They have great development potential in our journey towards the World Championships qualifiers in Jeju, Korea next year, and they have made excellent progress so far."
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