6th WUC Floorball Singapore Off to Roaring Start as Minister Mr Lawrence Wong Declares Championship Open

Teams line up for the Opening Ceremony 

SINGAPORE – The World University Floorball Championship 2014 commenced in Singapore yesterday morning 18 June as Asian powerhouse Japan were overwhelmed 22-3 by a rampant ranked world-number one Finland. The Finns dominated the match right from the go and never looked like relinquishing their lead as their Asian counterparts found it hard to stop their opponents from extending their lead despite being ranked fourth in the world. Perttu Pajukoski was the best player for Finland, as he scored five goals and as many assists.

Switzerland also pulled off a great start as they triumphed over reigning champions Czech Republic 4-1 in the other Group A men’s match.

Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Mr Lawrence Wong

In front of a boisterous home crowd, Singapore trounced causeway rivals Malaysia 18-0 to start off their World University Floorball Championship (WUFC) campaign on the right foot. Calvin Lim was the best player of this match as he scored a hat trick and grabbed an assist to his name as well. “We started off poorly for the first period but I believed from the second and third period onwards our team showed the potential we had as well as what the five months of training had been for”, Team Captain Glendon Phua explained after the game. “I would say it gives us the confidence and a good head start, but the ball is round and anything can happen in floorball so we will take each game by each game.”

Kuchen Florian and Alex Kjellbris fighting for the ball

Following the match, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Mr Lawrence Wong graced the occasion by being the guest-of-honour for the tournament’s opening ceremony. The ceremony was initiated by the marching in of the players, as they stood watching the International University Sports Federation flag being hoisted to signify the start of the competition.

The last match of the day saw Switzerland failing to overcome bogey team Sweden which they lost to, in the bronze match in the previous edition of the WUFC. Switzerland trailed Sweden 4-1 at one point but they made a brave attempt to come back but ran out of time to do so as they lost 4-3. “Of course this win is important – Switzerland, Czech Republic and Finland are top teams here and I think we showed them that we are a team to beat”, player Eric Bjork commented. “I don’t think we thought about that when we nearly allowed them to make a comeback, believing in ourselves and doing what we are good at and overall, we were the better team so I think we deserve this victory”, the N°2 added.

Singapore’s No.6 Mah Jianyong out-tussles Mohd Hilmi Hafidz as Singapore proceeded to ease past Malaysia 18-0

Results Day 1

MEN

Switzerland – Czech Republic: 5-1
Republic of Korea – China (People’s Republic of): 23-0
Finland – Japan: 22-3
Malaysia – Russian Federation: 2-21
Singapore – Malaysia: 18-0
Sweden – Switzerland: 4-3

WOMEN

Switzerland – Sweden: 0-11
Malaysia – Japan: 0-16

(Source: WUCOC – Images: VOXSPORTS)