Written by: Luke Chiang
Edited by: Chen Kexin and Lydia Ong
Photos by: EusoffWorks
Final score: 3-0 to Eusoff
1st set( Fadi, Dylan, Chong Jin)
2nd set( Gaele, Brandon, Joel/Ethan)
3rd set( Irfan/Jasper, Isaiah, Amos)
On 6th of January, our boys of the Takraw team matched up with Raffles Hall as their season opener of AY20/21’s Inter-Hall Games(IHG). Our boys, helmed by Gaele Loi, emerged the victors.
1st Set
Match 1( Fadi, Dylan, Chong Jin), 15-7
Starting us off were Fadi, the road relay captain Dylan and the prominent 12-year old of football, Chong Jin(CJ). The match started off with a bang with Fadi scoring the first 5 goals of the match, establishing the lead. Most of the scores earned by this trio came from CJ and Dylan setting the ball up to help Fadi to land a devastating hit on the ball, phasing the opposing RH team. The match ended in 15-7 in favour of Eusoff.
Fadi demonstrates his flexibility on the court - it's a fortunate circumstance that there were no supporters nearby for him to flash this year.
Match 2, 15-11
Keeping the same line up, our boys continued. A few misplays here and there caused points to be earned by RH. There were times in this match that RH seemed to have the upper hand against our yellow men and the scores were quite even leading up to the 10th point. This was until Fadi bombarded the opponent with his kicks and headshots with help from CJ and Dylan, to throw the opponent off. The match concluded with Eusoff winning 15-11.
Match 3, (Fadi, Pei Jie, CJ), 16-14
Out of all the matches, this match came the closest. A swap of servers was made on our side as Dylan was swapped out for our sports director Pei Jie. Due to match fatigue, mistakes were made by the other 2. Points were awarded to RH due to our boys hitting the ball out of court a few times. But let’s be fair, it is a fast paced game with high intensity and we’re all human. The plays by RH caused a tie at the 14th point which caused the set point to be increased to 16. In the end, our boys came out on top, winning them the set as they were the first Regu to reach 3 wins.
2nd Set
Match 1 ( Gaele, Brandon, Joel), 15-8
If you were following our newsletters for the past semester, you would know that this lineup is quite formidable. Gaele, our captain with tons of experience on his back, the freshie with the strongest kicks, Brandon and the talented senior, Joel Jet.
This was admittedly a scary match to watch seeing Brandon with his powerful serves that constantly threw our opponents off, Joel with his solid headers to score points and Gaele’s smooth but explosive kicks over the net. The tactics of this match was pretty simple, if Brandon hadn’t scored with his serve or one of his powerful kicks, then he would set up Joel for a head smash. If the ball went to Gaele, it was all him man. The match concluded in 15-8.
Match 2, 15-10
The same trio headed into the next match and it wasnt much different from the previous match. The match concluded in 15-10, us winning of course.
Match 3, (Gaele, Brandon, Ethan)
A substitution of strikers was made from Joel to Ethan. This was the first match that our boys conceded. Might have been a mistake to sub Ethan in after his 120kg working set of deadlifts the previous night but it's ok we're all human bruh. The boys conceded this match 11-15
Match 4, (Gaele, Brandon, Joel) 15-12
A resub back to Joel was made after Joel recharged from the lack of a 10 hour sleep. This match was another close fight for our boys. This was really when match fatigue started setting in for our boys but following the strategy from Match 1 and 2, our boys emerged victorious again, thus winning the 2nd set. If it ain’t broke, don't fix it.
Set 3
Match 1, (Irfan, Isaiah, Amos) 15-3
Kicking the 3rd set off is another loaded line up, this time stacked with seniors of Eusoff. We have Irfan, Isaiah and Mr President himself Amos. This was a rather clean and swift match, if you blinked even once, the match was over. The men only conceded 3 goals before they scored all 15 points. Due to the experience on the shoulders of these men, it is no surprise they almost sweeped the opponents. If the match was any cleaner we wouldn’t have to clean our rooms anymore.
Match 2, 15-8
The stacked lineup was maintained to keep up the momentum of the set. Amos kept up with his sick n’ smooth serves over the net. Occasionally the ball grazed the net before landing in the opponent's court, confusing the opponent. Irfan also bombarded the opponent with his powerful headers and kicks. Isaiah was no less in comparison. It seems as though there are inbuilt springs in this man's knees because man this guy got hops bro. Isaiah smashed the ball so many times into the opponent's court, even the spectators were scared.
One of Amos' sick n' smooth serves... he leans in to give the ball a goodbye kiss before kicking it over the net.
Match 3, (Jasper, Isaiah, Amos)
This was another match that the boys conceded but make no mistake, our boys still put up a good fight. Irfan was subbed out for Jasper. Jasper did a good job in holding up with the more experienced guys and it is admirable that he held his own. Hm yes. It came close and our boys finished the match in defeat 13-15. But really at this point, our boys kind of have all but won this game.
Match 4, (Jasper, Irfan, Amos)
This match saw the return of Irfan. This match saw our boys make a comeback from the previous defeat and emerge ahead of RH.
The Takraw boys definitely put up a good fight in defeating our opponents. They have set up good momentum for this season by opening with a big win. Hopefully, they’ll be able to continue this winning streak heading into the next few matches. Keep it up, boys!
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