EARLY ACTION

By Jerome Seow

Picture By Danny Toh

The opening ceremony for the SEA Games in Laos is still days away but some Team Singapore athletes have already gone into action, including our water polo boys (picture) who started their quest for gold with an impressive win over Indonesia today (Dec 5).

Number 23

Aiming for Gold Number 23 in this regional competition to maintain their unbeaten record, they defeated Indonesia in their opening encounter at the National Sports Complex in Vientiane. They were quick off the blocks and raced to a 5-2 lead at the end of the first quarter. The tighter second quarter ended with Singapore leading 7-3. By the end of the third quarter which we dominated, our boys had stretched their lead to 12-3. Indonesia did well in the closing quarter but it was too late as Singapore won the match 14-5.

Flying Start

There was also early action for our footballers who earned a hard-fought 2-2 draw against Indonesia at the National University Stadium Football Field in Vientiane. The Young Lions got off to a flying start, taking a 2-0 lead after just 23 minutes into the match. But the Indonesians slowly felt their way into the match, scoring a goal just before half time. They came out for the second half searching for the equalizer and it duly arrived just past the hour mark from a corner kick. Despite the efforts of both teams, the score remained level at 2-2 as the referee blew the final whistle.