Silver Step For U-16 Team

Girls' side win S'pore's first basketball medal at regional youth level in over a decade

- Melvyn Teoh

Starved of success for some time, Singapore basketball received a shot in the arm when the national Under-16 girls' team won a silver medal in the South-east Asia Basketball Association (Seaba) qualifiers for the Fiba U-16 Women's Asia Cup on May 18.

The Republic placed second out of five teams during the five-day tournament in Hanoi, Vietnam, the first time that a South-east Asian qualifying competition was held for the continental event.

They finished behind Indonesia, who won all four matches to clinch the sole qualification spot for the Fiba U-16 Women's Asia Cup in Malaysia in September.

The last time Singapore won a medal in a regional youth basketball tournament was back in 2014, when the U-18 girls' team bagged a silver at the Seaba U-18 Championship, the inaugural edition which saw only three teams taking part.

At the Thanh Tri Gymnasium last week, the Republic opened their campaign with a 71-61 defeat by Thailand, before beating Malaysia 63-46. After losing 81-51 to Indonesia, they bounced back with a 64-33 victory over Vietnam.