“We will give a good show to everybody”

Suria R, the captain of the Singapore national team, is competing in his fourth WFC. The forward, who usually plays for IBK Dalen in Singapore, led his team on the field in their first group match of WFC 2022 against Estonia. With his team he wants to give his opponents a hard fight.

How would you analyze your first game of these world championships against Estonia (4:12) today?Suria R: In the first and second period we started with a half-court press, because we wanted to see how Estonia played. Once we got a bit of confidence, we changed our formation. But I think their passes where far more accurate and faster than ours, and we didn't defend well enough. Up front we didn't take our chances to score more goals.

What is your role in the team as the captain for team Singapore?
Game-wise I make sure that the boys are mentally and physically prepared for the games. Before every game I tell them to keep their heads high, but not to be overconfident. I also tell them to take every game step by step and to not lose their focus during the match.

What can we expect from Singapore during these world championships?
We'll try to give a good fight for our opponents. We'll see how it goes, but we will definitely give a good show to everybody.

The WFC 2022 is in Switzerland: What is your first impression of the country and the WFC here?
I heard a lot about Switzerland and it's nice being here. However, we must focus on our games first and after that we'll see what Switzerland has to offer.

To finish off the interview a more general question: How is floorball changing or developing in Singapore?
In Singapore floorball is slowly developing. We are starting to develop new young talents earlier. In the 1990s and early 2000s those who were 13 years old or even older started to play floorball. However, now they start playing floorball in primary school when they are seven years old. I think they will have more experience playing the sport, so when they are older, they will know how to make the sport better.