GAELIC SPORTS WORLD Issue 2 Sample Test, June 5, 2014 | Page 23

SOUTH ASIAN GAELIC GAMES
MAY 2014

MAGNIFICENT
SEVEN FOR
SINGAPORE
It turned out to be another great
weekend recently in South Asia for
the Singapore Football Club as the
men’s team took their seventh title
in a row, while the ladies side added
their fifth.
The occasion was the 2014 South
Asian Gaelic Games that took place
in Hanoi, Vietnam on Saturday,
May 24. This annual tournament
is one of the highlights of the Asia
GAA calendar and always produces
top quality competitive games. This
year was no exception with some
fine team and individual performances both at adult and youth
levels.

bidding to retain their men’s and ladies football crowns from 2013 with
ladies shooting for a fifth in succession while the men were going for
a magnificent seventh victory since
the event began seven years ago.
From 8am sharp things got underway until at the end of the day,
the Men’s Cup was decided between
Singapore 2 and Orang Eire 1, and
the Men’s Plate, between Singapore
1 and Thailand. The Men’s Cup final
was a hard fought match and won
only in the last few minutes with the
Singapore side once again proving

Action from the men’s football competition at the recent South Asia Gaelic Games in Hanoi,
Vietnam. (Photo courtesy of Asia GAA)

The Ladies Football tournament
also produced some excellent football throughout with some fine individual play from many non-Irish
players. Thailand, in particular,
had some fantastic performances

Last year the event took place in
Singapore but this year it was back
to roots as the tournament returned
once more to the city and country
from whence it began.
The competition started as the
South East Asian Gaelic Games and
was first held at Hanoi in 2008. By
2012, the South East Asian region
was renamed and restructured into
the South Asia region, and so renamed the South Asia Games. The
one-day tournament brings together teams to compete in Men’s,
Ladies, and Juvenile Football. The
region comprises of India, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand
and Vietnam.
This year teams travelled from
Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Saigon,
and Thailand. It was tough going for
many as extremely hot conditions
greeted the players in this capital
city of Vietnam. Competition favorites, Singapore Gaelic Lions were

Come back here! Further action from the men’s football cup in Hanoi. (Photo courtesy of Asia GAA)

too strong. In the Men’s Plate final
though, Thailand battled hard but
it was Singapore 1 who eventually
turned on the style to finish victors.
The Eugene Maloney MVP award
is dedicated every year in honor of
the esteemed journalist who tragically lost his life in Ireland. Eugene
was associated with the Hanoi club
for several years. This year’s Eugene
Maloney award went to Neil Corrigan from Singapore.

from their Thai and Japanese players who have just recently started
playing Gaelic football. Singapore, perennial power in women’s
football, played Orang Eire in the
Senior Final and after a highly
competitive game ran out eventual
winners for their fifth title in a row.
In the Ladies Plate final, it was an
all Vietnam affair with Saigon narrowly beating host’s Viet Celts. The
ladies tournament saw the 2014

MVP awarded to Jenn Norman
from Singapore.

Youth Success
The youth event was one of the
highlights of the
overall event. It was
well received and
several hard fought
games took place
between the local
Vietnamese
and
the visiting Malaysian teams. The
tournament
had
U12, U15, and U17
Boys and U17 Girls
competitions. Particularly good were
the VAS U12 boys
who beat Malaysia.
VAS U12 boys had
only 4 weeks training while Malaysia
had been playing
together as a team
for two years. In
the U15 boys, VAS
Hanoi beat their
local rivals Hanoi IS. In the U17
group, the VAS Hanoi took the
honors against Hanoi IS in boys,
while results were reversed in the
women’s group with Hanoi IS beating VAS Hanoi. The VAS players
played with determination and
skill on what was a very hot day.
This group is coached by Jim Kiernan who has been working hard to
promote Gaelic Football in Hanoi )͍