Anglo-Chinese Junior College beat Victoria Junior College in comeback win to reclaim A Div netball title

SINGAPORE – After two demanding seasons of juggling her studies with netball, Anglo-Chinese Junior College (ACJC) goalkeeper Alyssa Tan began to feel the strain.

So when the 2025 National School Games A Division campaign concluded last May, she decided to step back from netball and focus on her academics.

While it was a much-needed break for Tan, who was retained in Year 1 of junior college, her time away from the sport only made her realise how much she missed it.

That eventually led to her rejoining the team at the start of 2026, a decision that ultimately paid off as ACJC clinched the A Division title on May 25 with a 46-41 comeback victory over Victoria Junior College (VJC).

“I really missed being on court and playing with my team and if I could benefit my team some way, I would just take it and help my team,” said the now-Year 2 student.

“It (the break) gave me more motivation to work hard this year – sometimes you just need it.”

Ahead of the final at the Jurong East Sports Hall, Tan and her teammates knew they were in for a tough battle against VJC.

Just the week before, ACJC had lost 51-45 to the same opponents in the quarter-final round, but still held on to the hope that they could reclaim the crown they last won in 2024 after finishing runners-up in 2025.

On May 25, it was VJC who enjoyed the stronger start, taking an 11-7 lead in a testy and scrappy first quarter, before the contest evened out in the second quarter, with both teams scoring 13 goals apiece.

Looking more comfortable on court after the interval, ACJC outscored their rivals 12-8 in the third quarter to level proceedings at 32-32, setting up a tense final quarter.

Growing in confidence, they then took the lead for the first time in the match and never relinquished it.

“Last year we had silver and we definitely came this year wanting to win gold and that drove the motivation harder, especially with the current JC2 batch,” said Tan, who was a key figure in ACJC’s defence.

“I’m really relieved that we won. Last week we lost to VJC and we came into the game not being sure, but we knew we were going to fight all the way.”

ACJC captain Kaylee Toh attributed their slow start to nerves amid the boisterous atmosphere created by supporters from both schools, but was proud of how her team bounced back.

The goal attack also highlighted the strong bond within the team – cultivated through training and going for post-training meals together – as a key factor to the success.

The 18-year-old said: “Everybody was stressed but we settled down in the second quarter and started to play our game. There were some mistakes but we fought back.

“Our coaches, teachers and our motivation for each other reminded us that we were in this together.”

ACJC coach Kok Mun Wai was pleased with her charges’ progress over the season, especially after they lost a pre-season friendly to VJC in March by more than 10 goals.

She said: “All credit to the girls – they really worked their hearts out.

“They knew what their weaknesses were and during training, they played to our strengths and kept drilling on that until they had that chemistry on court.”

VJC captain Karmen Kornegay said ACJC’s mindset gave them the edge in the end, as they were more driven and made fewer mistakes in the final quarter.

But the wing attack, 17, lauded her teammates for not giving up till the end.

She said: “It was nonetheless a very good fight from the start to the end.

“We know that ACJC is a very strong opponent and we’ve played them before in the group stage so we knew what to expect, but so did they.

“Regardless of the result, I’m incredibly proud of the fight my team managed to put up and it really just proved that all the hard work we put in from last year has paid off.”