SINGAPORE RETURNS TO DIVISION 1

Singapore's Suhaimi Amran converted a pressure penalty kick in the final minute of the HSBC Asian 5 Nations (HSBC A5N) Division II final on Saturday night to beat Malaysia 20-17 and took the Lions to next year's Division I tournament. The win sees Singapore promoted to Division I after being relegated from the same competition in 2012. Singapore will be the fourth seeds in next year's tournament alongside UAE (1), Kazakhstan (2) and Chinese Taipei (3).

It was a close match throughout the final with the two teams separated by just two points at halftime and level at 17-all entering the game's final five minutes. The two sides jousted for most of the first half with Malaysia's flyhalf Nazreen Fitri Nasaruddin slotting two penalties in the opening 30 minutes to give his side a 6-0 lead.

As the match moved into the final phase, Malaysia's Mohammad Syahir Asyraf Rosli capped off a nice flowing move with an impressive solo effort to level the scores at 17-all with six minutes remaining. The last moments of the game were a tense affair as both sides traded opportunities and were on tenterhooks to not give away penalties. In the 79th minute, Malaysia's no 8 Timoci Nacokula was sin-binned giving Amran an opportunity to win the match for Singapore.

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