Singapore women capture historic gold at Asia Pacific Tchoukball Championships

They beat World No.1 Chinese Taipei to win the first Asia Pacific title; Men’s team settle for silver

[Singapore, 7 August 2022] – Singapore’s national women’s tchoukball team created history in Johor Bahru today when they beat reigning world champions Chinese Taipei 39-35 to clinch their first-ever gold medal at the Asia Pacific Tchoukball Championships.

The Republic had never beaten world powerhouses and defended Asia Pacific champions Chinese Taipei before. A 35-50 loss in the round-robin competition suggested that yet again, Singapore would come up second best at the Educity Sports Complex in Iskandar Puteri Johor.

But the change of tactics and a disciplined performance ensured that the Singapore team would be crossing the Causeway with their first Asia Pacific title.

Said national women’s captain Tan Irene: “It’s an amazing feeling to beat the defending champions and the best team in the world.

“It’s always been our long-term goal to beat Chinese Taipei and we’re so proud to have achieved this feat. Credit must go to the team for a determined performance.”

Tan said that the team used their round-robin defeat to analyze Chinese Taipei’s strengths and weaknesses and come up with a game plan to outfox their opponents.

Said the 31-year-old civil servant: “We surprised the Taiwanese by coming up with a different approach in the final. 

“In a way, we didn’t want to show too much of ourselves in the earlier game so they we could surprise them. We knew they have good attackers so the plan was to start out strongly, not commit ourselves too easily, defend well, and make our shots count.”

Extra time spent training during the pandemic helped

Tan attributed the team’s success to extra time spent training and analyzing their game during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Initially we thought that the lack of matches and training tours would set us back during these last two years,” said Tan. 

“But as it turned out, the added time spent training in Singapore meant we could focus more on perfecting our game, looking at our past performances and analyzing our own game and that of our opponents. 

“This was our first competition in two years and to win it with a new squad, in which half are new additions to the national team, it is really satisfying.”

The women are now setting their sights on the world championships next year were winning their first world title is now a “realistic target”, said Tan, following their victory over Chinese Taipei. 

Tchoukball Association of Singapore president Delane Lim paid credit to his players and coaches for their hard work, especially during the pandemic.

“The win shows that the plans we have put in place for the renewal of our teams are working,” said Lim.

“Other teams sent quite senior players to the tournament. But we sent a good mix of youth and experience and that augurs well for our future.

“To beat Chinese Taipei is no mean feat and I told the team before the match to just go out and give it their best. I told them we have nothing to lose, if anything, the Taiwanese have it all to lose. I told them to go out and enjoy themselves. I am so glad they did just that and brought home the gold.”

Men win the silver

Hopes of a double gold were dashed when Chinese Taipei proved too strong for the men’s team, winning their final 73-48. 

Said Lim: “It would have been nice to win two titles but winning our first Asia Pacific title is still a great achievement.

“It’s our birthday present to Singapore.”

In fact, Lim will be hoping his charges can add another title at the Asia Pacific Youth Tchoukball Championships in Bangkok next week (Aug 12-14).

“We have two members of the women’s winning team under the age of 18 and eligible for the tournament,” said Lim. 

“Our national women’s captain Irene will also be the coach of that team so we’re hoping to continue our good form.”

Source: ASIA PACIFIC TCHOUKBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS