Outram win historic water polo gold

SINGAPORE — Two years ago, Outram Secondary’s water polo players left the National Inter-School Waterpolo “C” Division Championship final heartbroken.

Eager to win their school’s first national “C” Division title in the sport, yet racked by nerves, they were hammered 15-0 instead by Anglo-Chinese School (Independent).

Yesterday, the same bunch of Outram students were out to create history again — in the “B” Division final. And this time, they were not to be denied.

In an intense and electrifying battle in front of about 600 vociferous supporters from both schools at the Ministry of Education’s Physical and Sports Education Branch swimming pool, Outram fought tooth and nail before edging out ACS(I) 6-5 to win their maiden “B” Division crown.

“In 2011, we weren’t really prepared and took everything too hard,” said Outram captain Wynn Chan, part of their run two years ago that saw them beat Raffles Institution and ACS (Barker Road) en route to the final.“But we learnt from our mistakes and came back stronger. We told ourselves to enjoy the match and go with the flow.”

Even though ACS(I) were the three-time defending champions, victory was not a certainty as both teams met twice this year, with Outram winning 12-8 at the King’s Cup Invitational in Bangkok before ACS(I)’s 10-6 triumph in the preliminary rounds of the inter-school championship last month.

ACS(I) took an early 2-1 lead after goals from Daren Ong and Gordon Chen cancelled out an early strike from Outram’s Glen Lim. But Outram bounced back in the second period by slamming in three goals to ACS(I)’s one for a 4-3 lead. ACS(I) then fought back to lead 5-4 through efforts from Gordon and Daren, before Sean Toh equalised for Outram to set up a nerve-racking finish.

With a minute left, Wynn latched onto a pass from Jonas Lai to score the winner to spark wild celebrations among their 300-strong supporters.

For Outram coach Kuah Kar Huat, who won the “A” Division title as an Outram pre-university student in the late-1980s, the win was particularly special. “I have been a coach here for more than 10 years, and this victory is definitely very good for us as the boys have put in a lot of hard work,” said the 45-year-old, who was hurled into the pool by his charges after the win.

“They and their parents sacrificed their school holidays so that the team could train twice a day, 10 times a week and I never doubted they could win this. They lost to ACS(I) two years ago but have matured a lot since. They had a winning mentality and really believed in themselves.”

ACS(I) captain Syed Isa Aljunied was gracious in defeat yesterday. “We played well except for the last part where we started to rush the game and allowed them to capitalise on our mistakes,” he said. “They have been training a lot and are very dedicated to water polo and the better team won today. We are disappointed but we will come back stronger and reclaim it next year.”