The Singapore women’s team have qualified for the World Floorball Championships (WFC) after beating New Zealand in Wellington yesterday.
Singapore, ranked world No. 18, defeated the 23rd-ranked hosts 7-1 in the quarter-finals of the WFC qualifying tournament for Asia and Oceania.
The tournament featured eight teams from Asia and Oceania vying for four spots at December’s World Championships in Bratislava, Slovakia.
Singapore’s Suhaidah Yusof opened the scoring after a goal-less first period at the ASB Sports Centre.
Two more goals from Ong Hui Hui and Angela Model, and an own goal by their opponents, saw Singapore enter the last period with a 4-0 advantage.
The Republic’s dominance continued as Wilna Tan, Syafizah Safii and Laura Tan each scored to widen their side’s lead, before New Zealand’s Nia Emrys’ shot found the net for a consolation goal.
Singapore team manager Tan Meng Huay praised her charges’ convincing win, saying that qualifying for the WFC is a “significant milestone”.
She added: “The team had excellent synergy and camaraderie to have been able to string their passes well in attack and defence.
“In addition, their high spirits and positive energy rubbed off on one another for this match.”
With the win, Singapore bagged the last qualifying spot from the Asia-Oceania zone.
In the earlier quarter-final match yesterday, unranked Thailand snagged a spot after stunning world No. 21 South Korea 5-4.
Australia and Japan, ranked 12th and 13th in the world respectively, had sealed their spots for the Dec 1-9 WFC on Thursday after finishing top of their individual groups.
Singapore finished in 16th place at the last edition of the WFC in 2015.
cnicole@sph.com.sg
This article was first published on February 4, 2017.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.
