Flying start for Singapore's floorballers
Goal in opening minute sets tone for an emphatic victory over Indonesia
ASIA-OCEANIA FLOORBALL CUP
| SINGAPORE | INDONESIA |
| 18 | 0 |
The Singapore women's floorball team got their Asia-Oceania Floorball Competition (AOFC) Cup campaign off to a flying start with an emphatic 18-0 win over 33rd ranked Indonesia at Our Tampines Hub yesterday.
Hosts Singapore were quick off the blocks with a goal within the first minute by Michelle Lok.
This set the tone for the rest of the game, with Singapore dominating possession and limiting Indonesia to just one shot the whole game.
Our target is really just to finish as high, which for now is just the top of the group.... Singapore captain Amanda Yeap
Player of the match Siti Nurhaliza led the scoring with three goals, with Debbie Poh, Mindy Lim and captain Amanda Yeap bagging two each.
Despite their blistering start, the team ended the first period with just three goals.
But they grew into the game, hitting the net 15 times over the next two periods.
Although they won by a big margin, the Singapore team remain grounded for their upcoming group games against India and Thailand.
Yeap, 24, said: "We've played Thailand thrice in recent years and they are the biggest threat in our group, and India have in recent years been exposing their country to a lot of floorball."
Singapore women's floorball coach and former national captain Louise Khng echoed similar sentiments, saying: "Asian countries are up and coming, and countries like Thailand and Malaysia have been improving since 2015."
The competition features eight teams, with Iran, Japan, Malaysia, and Thailand rounding off the other group.
Having won gold at the 2015 South-east Asia (SEA) Games, the 15th-ranked Singapore are the hot favourites.
Only Japan rank slightly higher at 14th, with potential challengers like Thailand and Malaysia coming in at 19th and 26th respectively.
On their expectations for the upcoming matches, Yeap said: "Our target is really just to finish as high, which for now is just the top of the group and then we'll take it from there."
Khng added: "There is no pressure for them to win the competition. We just want them to enjoy the game, which I think is most important."
The first edition of the women's AOFC Cup was inaugurated with an opening ceremony graced by the guest of honour, Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin.
In other games, Malaysia trounced Philippines 14-1, while Thailand also enjoyed a lopsided 15-1 victory over India.
Japan ensured that trend continued with a 27-0 hammering of Iran.
The competition ends on Saturday. Admission is free.
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