Written By: Eldred Sng Edited By: Valerie Chua & Jolene Wong Photographs By: EusoffWorks
Come 7pm and the MPSH was packed to the brim, with players and supporters alike. The second takraw preliminary match was about to begin! The EH players were warming up with their usual routine of passes and headers, before our first match against KR. After a bit more warm-up, captain Irfan calls his team for a huddle and pep-talk, before Minghao, Hairi and Marcus step onto the court for the first game.
First Regu 3-0 to EH
We are off to an even start, with mistakes from both sides of the court causing the score to be tied at 3-3. Minghao then manages to break the deadlock with an extremely casual goal! He literally just nodded the ball home for a point, stunning his KR opponents. A few more clinical kills from Minghao and EH pulls away, with the score now 7-3 to EH. Hairi heads another one home, and Minghao defends a few of KR’s kills by jumping up midair and intercepting the ball. EH eventually takes the first set 15-7.
The second match started with Minghao’s signature ‘nod’, putting EH in the lead once again. With consistent defence from Marcus, and Minghao and Hairi keeping up the impressive barrage of headers, soon the score was 11-6 to EH. After winning an extended rally, Hairi puts one more home with a controlled header. The second set ended with Minghao leaping up into the sky to nail a sharp header right into the opponent’s court. EH takes the second set with a score of 15-7.
The third set started with a series of mistakes from the opponent’s side, with EH pulling away with a score of 4-1 to EH. Minghao then proceeds to nod another ball home, scoring us another point. Soon, the EH team found themselves up 10-4. KR then regrouped somewhat, scoring some kills which managed to slip through our defence. However, our players kept their cool, with Minghao continuing his header barrage and Marcus also manages to score a service ace. EH manages to take the third set with a score of 15-11.
The first regu wins their match with an overall score of 3-0
Second Regu 3-1 to KR
Representing the second regu on court will be Isaiah, Eun Seong and Dat. KR started out strongly, with a series of bicycle kicks, allowing them to take the lead with a score of 3-1 to KR. However, freshie Isaiah manages to counter the bicycle kick, by jumping in front of the net and defending the shot with his back. Who knew someone could jump that high? Bolstered by isaiah’s sick defence, the team regrouped, with Eun Seong heading another point home for Eusoff. Isaiah made use of his impressive airtime and proceeds to head a few more shots home, bringing the score to 13-10 to EH. EH maintained their lead, winning the first set with a score of 15-11.
KR returned the second set with a vengeance, with them pulling ahead very quickly. However, our guys kept their cool and continued playing with a level mind, despite some bad luck and a few unfortunate mistakes. The score was initially 6-0 to KR, but after a quick timeout and a team talk, the second regu tweaked their game plan. Eun Seong then manages to save an impossible ball, followed by Isaiah hammering one more home with his head. Unfortunately, KR eventually takes the second set with a score of 15-11.
After enduring two whole sets of bicycle kicks, the second regu has adapted to them, with Eun Seong executing a stunning defence against KR’s bicycle kick. Isaiah then completes another magical defence play with his back. This set was much more even, with both sides taking turns to earn points. Dat completely upped his defence game, managing to defend almost every bicycle kick that his opponents threw at him. Nevertheless, despite putting up a good fight, our guys lost the second set with a score of 15-11.
The last set began very evenly, with the score being tied at 5-5 within the first ten minutes. Great teamwork from the second regu sets Isaiah up to head another ball home. With insane defensive efforts from all three players, every single bicycle kick was returned back to KR with a vengeance. Unfortunately, KR still manages to take the fourth set with a final score of 15-12, with EH putting up an amazing fight.
The second regu loses their match with an overall score of 3-1.
Third regu 3-2 to KR
Representing the last regu on court would be Gau, Andrew and Captain Irfan. The first set started with tensions running high, with mistakes from both sides causing the score to be tied at 1-1. Gau then executes a superb running header, scoring EH another point. However, both sides were very evenly matched, causing the score to go up to 5-5. Captain Irfan then blocks the opponents kill perfectly with his back, allowing EH to take the lead with a score of 8-6. He then followed that up with an insane jump header. It was as if he was floating in the air! However, KR gathered themselves and managed to catch up, resulting in the score being 12-11 to KR. KR eventually takes the first set with a score of 15-12.
The second set began quite evenly as well, with mistakes on both sides resulting in the score being 2-2. EH then followed up with a good kill from Gau and a service ace from Andrew, allowing us to gain the lead. A few more mistakes from the KR side results in the score being 8-4 to EH. A juke from captain Irfan causes KR to make more mistakes, and Andrew manages to sneak another header in. EH takes the second set 15-7 after KR’s service meets the net.
The third set began strongly for KR as they upped the intensity of their gameplay even more. With a few good services from KR, they manage to pull ahead with a score of 6-3 to KR. A brilliant kill by captain Irfan, however, turns the tide of the match. Another service ace by Andrew brings the score to a tie at 6-6. KR manages to take the lead, but EH is in hot pursuit, with excellent defence from Irfan. With multiple service errors from KR, the score is now 10-10. Tensions are extremely high now, with each side taking turns to score points. At 14-14, Andrew commits a service error, but KR follows that up with two more service errors, allowing us to take the lead. KR then hits the ball out to allow EH to take the third set with a score of 17-16.
The fourth set started out evenly, with the score coming to 3-3. A good kill by Irfan followed by an excellent service ace from Andrew allow us to take the lead. An insane kill from Gau brings the score to 5-4 to EH. However, KR managed to regroup and coupled with some miscommunications on our side allow them to take the lead with a score of 8-6 to KR. KR then seized this chance to widen the gap, and eventually took the fourth set with a score of 15-9 to KR.
KR started extremely strong in the last set, rushing to a 12-4 lead. However, the last regu kept their composure and played on, with service aces and saves from Andrew earning a few important points back. However, the initial lead proved to be too great and KR unfortunately won the last set with a score of 15-8.
The second regu loses their match with an overall score of 3-2.
The Takraw Temans put up an outstanding fight for this match against KR. Despite KR leading in some of the sets, our guys never gave up and gave their all to fight for every single point! Kudos to them! Let’s give our utmost support to the Takraw guys for their future matches!
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