SINGAPORE — Left without a coach right after clinching a historic South-east Asian (SEA) Games gold medal last year, the Singapore men’s national floorball team did not lose its footing but, instead, grew from strength to strength.

The team qualified for December’s World Championships in Latvia after putting in a string of impressive performances in the Asia-Oceania zone qualifiers in Pattaya, Thailand, last week.

Singapore — which competed in the World Championships’ top division in 1996 (12th place), 2010 (16th place) and 2012 (16th place) — drew 6-6 with higher-ranked Japan (world No 15) and beat hosts Thailand (world No 35) 5-2. The Republic’s men’s team is currently ranked 18th in the world, putting them as the third highest-ranked team in the region, only behind Australia (16th) and Japan.

It was an amazing turnaround for a team that lost their coach, Rajamanikam Saravanan, who announced his resignation after five years at the helm following an outstanding 9-0 rout of Thailand in the SEA Games final.

With several players also leaving the men’s team after the SEA Games due to National Service commitments, the future of the men’s side seemed uncertain until Sonia Chia — assistant coach to Saravanan for the 2012 World Championships — stepped in and took the helm in December.

“We are slowly establishing ourselves as the best team in the region, and closing the gap with other European teams,” said Singapore Floorball Association (SFA) president Sani Mohamed Salim. “That has always been our aim, and we are getting there.

“There was some initial worry when Saravanan left, but Sonia came in and made an immediate impact.

“She is the first female coach we have for the men’s team, and I have faith that she will lead us to many more good results, which will in turn increase awareness and support for the sport, and encourage more youngsters to try out for the national team.”

Chia, a former national women’s floorball player, wasted no time in putting a strong team together capable of clinching one of three qualifying spots for the region at the December World Championships — along with the winners of the qualifiers, Australia, and third-placed Thailand.

The 33-year-old, who is also coaching the National Technological University men’s floorball team, also roped in two other coaches — one to be an assistant and the other a strength and conditioning coach — to join her in the national set-up.

Described by national team forward Syazni Ramlee as a “brilliant tactician”, Chia told TODAY that her target for the national men’s team at this year’s World Championships is to finish as the best team in Asia-Oceania, and subsequently take Singapore’s world ranking to 15th or above.

“I feel like there is a lot more I can give to floorball on the national level, and there are some things that I hope to change,” she said.

“Previously, there is not much sports science (application) in the team, so I decided to bring in two sports scientists to help me, while I focus more on boosting the team up tactically. At the end of the day, my goal is to develop the players into more all-rounded athletes.”