Despite leading his side’s scoring tally with 15 points, wheelchair rugby co-captain Henry Seah felt he “could have done better” in Singapore’s 56-37 loss to hosts Thailand in Tuesday (Jan 20) afternoon’s match at the ASEAN Para Games.
There was nonetheless a sense of pride for Seah after he led the 10-man squad to their Games debut at the Terminal 21 convention hall, where wheelchair rugby has been included as a demonstration sport.
After also succumbing to a 51-33 defeat earlier in the morning, Seah said his side were encouraged by how they continued to take the game to Thailand, who finished fifth at last November’s Asia-Oceania Championship.
“I am proud of the effort the team put in today because we had a few new players without any exposure to competition and they are making their debut at a major Games,” he said.
Head coach Azhar Yusof, who has been with the team for a year and a half, said the two matches against the Thais were valuable in giving the team a gauge of where they stand on the international stage.
“To be able to compete on this stage is a big step forward for us,” he said. “We did rack up 37 points against them and we need to take that away as a positive.”
In the second training match, the Thais were quick to stamp their authority on the match as they broke with pace down the wings while also closing down their opponents on the transition.
The early pressure saw the Thais race to a commanding 19-11 first quarter lead.
But Singapore grew into the game as they matched their opponents’ intensity and found pockets of space when the Thais doubled up on Seah.
an Whee Boon, who also chipped in with 15 points, and Nur Sabrina Suhaimi, the tournament’s only female player, combined effectively in the build-up as Singapore ended the second quarter with just an 11-10 deficit to make it 30-21 heading into the break.
However, the Thais widened the gap as the game wore on as they restricted Singapore to single digit scores in the final two quarters (14-9, 12-7).
With the eleventh-hour withdrawals of teams from Malaysia, Timor Leste and Indonesia, the two sides were scheduled to face twice for training matches before the final on Thursday.
With a medal at stake in their third and final encounter, Seah will be “taking the experience back to discuss with the team and come back stronger than ever”.
As they look to work on their communication during the match, the team has also identified weakness in their opponents ranks, in hopes of exploiting them in the winner-takes-all encounter.
“There are definitely gaps we can take advantage of – such as controlling opponents with your chair by forcing them to pick a ball on their weak side,” he added.
Beyond Thursday’s result, Azhar hopes that the team’s showing in Korat will help to “raise awareness of the sport particularly amongst persons with disability”.
“We want to inspire them to take up physical activity and to want to take up sport. We will welcome them with open arms,” he said.
