Singapore Crash Out Of FIEA World Cup Following 2-1 Loss To Hosts New Zealand

WELLINGTON, NZ - Singapore's eraser world cup hopes were dashed yesterday following a 2-1 upset by hosts New Zealand in the quarter finals at the Kiwi Stationery Stadium. The result sends coach Hong Gang Bi and his team back home and back to the drawing board as Singapore's lengthy wait for a world cup win in stationery sports continues.

Calls for Mr Hong to step down intensified after yet another disappointing performance by the SingaporErasers. Mr Hong's team was recently nearly disqualified when a referee found traces of putty, a contraband material, in Singapore's stationery during the qualifiers.

The match started out smoothly for star player Elliot 'Erazer' Ray as he overcame the defensive posture of New Zealand's Rubber Federer to take an early lead before the 12th turn mark. Both teams played surprisingly passive after that, with not much aggression aside from a long flip fishing for an equalizer from New Zealand's .

However, things turned dangerous quickly for the Singapore team, largely the favourites, when Federer capitalized on Singaporean Chew Xiang Pi's awkward positioning at the edge of the table to equalize via a knockoff the table on the 67th turn. The New Zealanders unexpectedly rallied towards the end of the match and bullied Singaporean Joseph Shavings into a corner, subsequently breaking the tie off a solid bicycle flip.

The match ended as a 1-2 defeat for Singapore after a desperate Ray tried to pull back a draw with a nail-biting sharp pivot that ultimately ended in the 100-turn whistle being blown. While the Singapore team heads home early, hosts New Zealand will move on to face either the Russian (Rubbers) or tournament favourites Chile.