Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Wednesday, 14 January 2009 – Everyone felt a sense of déjà vu when Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and National University of Singapore (NUS) face off at the netball finals on Wednesday.

In the same situation about a year ago, the two teams were in the IVP 07/08 netball finals. Would it be a case of history repeating itself, with NTU winning the title again? Or will NUS claim the IVP netball championship this year?

Whatever the case, it was expected to be an extremely close game. NTU led the first quarter by a thin margin with the score 11-9. While NUS led the second quarter with the score 21-19. 

Sheryl Low, administrator for NTU remarks, “Every year it has been a 50-50 chance between NTU and NUS. The standard of netball has gone up over the years."

"Previously, just a few years back, only the university teams dominated the netball finals. But this year, the polytechnic netball teams are very strong. In fact, Temasek Polytechnic almost made it to the finals this year.”

The third quarter saw impressive team play by both teams. NTU displayed some nifty passing when Rachel Tan passed the ball to Goal Attacker Chen Huifen who passed it to Goal Shooter Shalene Lim who aimed and scored for her team.

Not to be outdone, NUS's Amanda Lai quickly passed the ball to Yasmin Ho who scored. The third quarter ended at 30-31, led by NTU.

The last quarter saw NTU clamouring for the ball and their passion paid off. The first five goals scored in the forth quarter were all by NTU. The shooters, Chen Huifen and Lim, did a great job with their accuracy and passing, and the team dominated the final moments.

The NTU defence players Anna Soo and Wee Yi Zhen were successful in exerting pressure on their opponent.

The final score stood at 44-36, led by NTU.

Chang Zi Ying, captain for NUS remarks, “Everyone fought hard for this game. I don't deny that our team didn't work hard but maybe we didn't pool together as much. But we never gave up and we believed till the end that we could have won the victory.”

Sharlene Lim, captain for NTU says, “It was the best game we played this season. The girls displayed not just their talent but also their determination. You could see how much we wanted the championship.”