Written by: Nikki Than Win
Edited by: Chen Kexin and Lydia Ong
Photos by: EusoffWorks
Squash M Prelims v RH
Jia Shen 11-2, 11-2, 11-2(W/W/W)
Elvis 11-2, 11-3, 12-10(W/W/W)
Kenson 11-4, 11-9, 11-6 (W/W/W)
Jerry 8-11, 2-11, 12-14 (L/L/L)
Clement 2-11, 2-11, 1-11 (L/L/L)
Overall score: Eusoff 3-2 Raffles Hall
Our first game for our Squash boys for this IHG and I am glad to report that we had a phenomenal showing against our strong Raffles Hall opponents. RH just came off a fresh win against Sheares Hall and this gave a boost of confidence to their players which really showed during our game against our Eusoff boys. Nonetheless after a gruelling two hour long battle with our opponents, our boys came out on top to secure a win against Raffles Hall.
Game 1(1st Singles, Jia Shen)
Jia Shen needs no introduction, he is the ace of the Squash team and is second seeded in the varsity team for NUS. His opponent waltzed into the court confident after an intense warm up session with his team mates, confident to take on the Goliath that is Jia Shen. On the other hand, Jia Shen did not participate in the likewise intense warm up by our own Eusoff boys, but instead, there was a sense of humility in his silence. Like a master chef whose tool is his kitchen knife, Jia Shen sliced opened the flaws in his opponent’s game. He barely broke a sweat and he did not even run as the points accumulated in his favour. Before we could turn an eye he had already won all 3 of his games with identical margins of 11-2,11-2 and 11-2. It was truly awe inspiring the vastness in skill between him and his opponent, to sum it up in one word - methodical.
Game 2(2nd Singles, Elvis)
Elvis led his team mates in an intense warm up session before their actual games, he was already drenched in sweat even before the actual competition started. It was safe to say he was ready to take on whoever came his way. Elvis had a strong start as a result of his warm up session, winning 7 consecutive points before eventually conceding one point to his opponent. Following this winning streak, he eased through his first set winning 11-2. By the second set, the strong opponent from Raffles Hall seemed to finally found his footing and the pair began to have intense rallies early onto the game. Elvis still had the edge every single point and the score eventually reached 8-3 in Eusoff’s favour. This was when his opponent started getting visibly flustered, contemplating every loss of a point by looking into the strings of his racket. Elvis proceeded to win the set 11-3, leaving him with one last set to go. Miraculously, his opponent from Raffles had received valuable feedback from his coach and teammates to better handle Elvis and the third game was significantly closer than the first. It was a neck and neck competition, neither one conceding more than 2 points at a time. It eventually reached 10 all and the heat was definitely on. As Elvis won his last point to end the game with 12-10, his opponent let out a fiery warcry in frustration, unable to break down Elvis’s defences.
Game 3(3rd Singles, Kenson)
Computer Science God, Handball God, Softball God and Squash God Kenson just casually making his opponent run hard for the ball
The next game starred our very own Computer Science sports god. Out of all the games of today, this was the closest game yet and the socially distanced crowd could clearly see that they were evenly matched. Kenson had his signature thunder shots with the flick of his wrists which his opponent seemed to struggle to deal with, much like anyone who had come before it. Each point was hard fought for but Kenson managed to come out on top with 11-4 for his first set. The following two sets were a lot closer. Kenson had an early lead in the second set with a score of 8-1, but his opponent found a second wind and the score eventually leveled to 9-8 with Kenson leading. Kenson had to calm himself down and his weird habit showed itself. Perhaps it was a mechanism to reset himself, but he would high five the wall in anger before getting his head back into the game*. Kenson pulled himself together and won the second set with a score of 11-9. Following this set, the scores were even as neither of them seemed to find a strong advantage over one another. At a point, Kenson was behind but he eventually won consecutive points to end the game with a score of 11-6 for his last set.
Game 4 ( 4th Singles, Jerry)
Strong hard strokes from our c-blk choker challenger, Jerry!
Jerry had a strong opponent who was taller and bigger than him, but this did not faze him. He bravely stepped onto the court with his signature poker face and inability to smile (he just has a rbf but actually he’s v nice deep deep deep deep inside) as he turned his full attention to the bouncy squash ball. Jerry was trailing behind from the get go with 4-2 as his left handed opponent placed difficult and awkward shots for Jerry. Jerry shook his head and managed to stage a comeback to 5 all. However his opponent and his awkward styles and weirdly placed shots got to Jerry’s head and Jerry conceded the first two sets with a score of 8-11 and 2-11. Jerry knew he had to reset and not let his nerves get to him, he adopted Kenson’s “wall high fiving” ritual* and it seemed to work. Jerry on his hind legs stepped up and managed to chase his opponent down, not letting the lead be bigger. At a score of 7-9, Jerry pulled off an amazing drop shot to which someone in the team shouted “A GRADE SHOT” ! He fought valiantly to a duece 3 times but eventually lost humbly to his opponent to a final score of 12-14. It was truly a nail biting game.
Game 5 ( 5th Singles, Clement Tee)
Clement was the only one new to squash IHG and it was clear to see he had a little bit of cold feet. But Clement was not going to let a little bit of nervousness get to him, with his fresh haircut and sleek new shoes. He was ready to face his opponent. He fought hard and his speciality dives to go after every ball was heart wrenching to watch as he narrowly missed a few saves. Clement ended his game with a loss but he held his head up high as he knew he had fought his hardest and this would be invaluable experience for his upcoming battles in the IHG games to come. The final scores for his sets were 2-11, 2-11 and 1-11.
This was an exciting battle to witness and our boys will get a boost of confidence from this victory over Raffles Hall. Stay tuned for more updates to see our boys get to the very end and hopefully emerge as champions for IHG!
*from what the editor knows, this “wall high five” is probably due to the fact that all the boys were sweating like crazy and were trying to wipe off sweat on their hands to better grip their rackets. Remember seeing all those black marks on the wall? They could well be the sweat of previous IHG athletes, leaving their mark forevermore.🤮😩
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