NTU falls short in SUniG once again

By Ignatius Koh

Rachel Lau (in black) helped the NTU women’s volleyball team retain its title with a 3-0 win over rivals NUS on 2 Oct. PHOTO: Zheng Juncen

NTU finished as runners-up in the Singapore University Games (SUniG) for the sixth consecutive year, ending its campaign behind National University of Singapore (NUS).

Champions NUS won 17 gold medals while NTU, with eight gold medals, failed to match its 10-gold medal haul last year. The Games took place from 31 Aug to 14 Oct.

The women’s basketball team brought home the title for the eighth year running, while both the men’s and women’s volleyball teams successfully defended their titles.

The women’s volleyball team beat NUS 3-0 in the finals, representing an improved team performance, said captain Lau Ee Shan.

“I thought we really deserved the title because I felt that throughout the whole SUniG, we really saw ourselves improving as a team and we played quite well for our last match,” said the second-year Sports Science and Management student.

While Lau, 20, was happy with last year’s win, she added that this year’s win was “more satisfying” as most players had started training late due to vacations and internships.

The men’s floorball, football, and tchoukball teams also clinched gold medals, after suffering losses in their respective finals last year.

A 2-1 win over Singapore Management University handed the men’s floorball team their first SUniG title in three years.

“Basically, the losses (in the finals) in the past two SUniG seasons were our driving factors for this year’s tournament,” said 23-year-old captain Muhammad Azhari.

Azhari, whose team lost to NUS last year, felt that his team “learnt to enjoy the game more”, which helped the players play to their strengths better, proving vital in the win.

“We were just unlucky for the past two years and we should have won both years, but this win is definitely a good send off for us (the final-year students),” said the final-year student from the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.

For the NTU bowlers, it was the first time since 2013 that the men’s and women’s teams both won titles in the same year.

The keglers had just two weeks to get used to the SUniG bowling lanes after returning from a competition in Malaysia, but the teams managed to seal the titles on 17 and 18 Oct at Temasek Club.

“I think that it shows how practice and hard work can really do wonders,” said 22-year-old men’s team captain Isaac Lim.

The third-year School of Humanities and Social Sciences student added: “Bowling’s not really a team sport as much as other contact sports, so the coaches made sure that every player participating in SUniG had enough attention during practices.”

In a surprise turn of events, NTU’s cricket team was left disappointed as its three-year dominance came to an end, after Singapore Institute of Management (SIM) pipped the reigning champions to the title.

The cricketers were playing in a three-team, home-away format, with NUS also part of the group.
“We were very unlucky in the last game (against SIM) that we lost — it was very, very close. We could have won, but we were unlucky (to lose 120-119),” said 22-year-old captain Singaram Venkatachalam. “It could have been better, but we’re on our way to improving.”

The final-year student at the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering added: “I’ve played three SUniGs and our opponents this year were the strongest. We have a lot to learn from this year.”

(Additional reporting by Fiona Mei Robinson and Natalie Choy)