Written by: Angelina Pandiman
Edited by: Chen Kexin and Lydia Ong
Photos by: EusoffWorks
Overall: Eusoff 2-3 Temasek
FINALLYYY it's time for the long awaited match featuring our squash boys, up against our biggest opponents rivals in the SEMIIIIIS. I even thought that they increased the match time by an hour just cos they see TH and EH going against each other but turns out it was just because it was semis.. whoops!
Anyway our boys reached the courts early to practice bc it was a vvvv impt match since it was the SEMIS~ which meant that a win or lose in this game would determine whether or not they could enter the finals or not!
Match 1: Jia Shen
First game of the day was Jia Shen, and our IVP player once again completely rekt his opponent with 11-1, 11-1, and 11-0. It was a really easy win for him as you could see how his amazing plays made his opponent run around the court like crazy while he just stood there returning balls and barely broke a sweat. Ezgame much? Tbh i would really like to see Jia Shen playing an intense match one day bc so far all of his opponents were no match for him and his mAd skILLZ.. HAHAHA
Jia Shen sends the ball towards the wall with ease... like very chill eh.
Match 2: Elvis
First intense match of the day where we had Elvis up! He started out strong during the first set and was always in the lead. Even tho he gave some (ok quite a few actually.. heh) points away to TH due to his mistakes, he still easily brought the W back to us with an 11-7. The second set was a lot scarier, as their scores were always tied. Both elvis and TH were running and diving so much, and there were so many strategic plays made by both players but also so many good saves by both! But of course, in the end, Elvis got it back with an 11-9, narrowly preventing it from going to a deuce. He ended his game with 11-6 while being calm and steady while THey (haha…..) were starting to panic. And with that, we won our second game of the day!!!
Elvis readies himself to hit a hard-to return ball while his opponent sneaks a peek over from the middle of the court.
Match 3: Kenson
Third match of the day w Kenson was a real scary one as it started off with his racket string breaking like 2 minutes into his first set D: this prolly threw him off guard as he started trailing behind in points but he fought hard and managed to bring it back to a tie with 8 ALL!! Sadly due to some mistakes, he lost the set with 8-11. Second set was v intense as well as both Kenson and his opponent were not giving points away easily, and it even came up to fighting hard for a whole minUTE(!!!) before a point was given to TH. sadly, THey made kenson run too much and man was undoubtedly exhausted :( , causing him to narrowly miss shots and hit out of bounds several times. our second and third set ended prematurely at 2-11 and 3-11, and we lost the third game to TH.
Match 4: Jerry
When it was up for Jerry’s match, everyone's eyes were glued to the match as the unforeseen circumstances of Kenson losing the previous match had given him extra pressure of bringing the team further into this year’s IHG. knowing this, Jerry was focused and ready to take on his opponent, however TH had the same mindset, which led to a very intense gameplay. It was a shame that some minor mistakes by Jerry here and there led to us losing several points. His strategic plays, while good, sadly fell short of his opponent’s. Jerry was strong but TH was simply tooOOO strong >:( , and after long and arduous fights for points, we eventually lost all 3 sets to them, with scores of 5-11, 5-11, 3-11. Though 3-0 seems like an ‘easy win’ for TH, I'm sure all the spectators would tell you that this match was hard fought and this game was definitely a challenge for both.
Jerry getting ready to whoop the ball's a*s with a solid backhand...
Match 5: Clement
Clement was up for the last game of the day. He was new to the game, but I could definitely see the improvements in his plays as compared to the match last week!! Everyone watched intently as Clement did not let his opponent get to him and constantly dove to save THeir returns, and almost fell while doing so once D: such dedication. TH also constantly made him run from one end of the court to another but this didnt deter him as he continued to push on with determination. It was really heart wrenching to see him lose his game with 1-11 all, but once again he didnt fail to show us the Eusoff spirit!!
The ball just barely escapes Clement's racquet... he works hard but the ball works harder! (jk.. jiayou Clement!)
Jia Shen 11-1, 11-1, 1-0 (W/W/W)
Elvis 11-7, 11-9, 11-6 (W/W/W)
Kenson 8-11, 2-11, 3-11 (L/L/L)
Jerry 5-11, 5-11, 3-11 (L/L/L)
Clement 1-11, 1-11, 1-11 (L/L/L)
The guys lost the semis to TH and sadly it means its their last squash match for this years IHG :( nevertheless, we’re still immensely proud of our boys for putting up a tough fight and believing in their teammates up till the very end, im sure it has been a great experience for them all! And thank you to everyone who has been supporting them too!! :-)
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