Written By: Rika Ogawa Edited By: Valerie Chua & Jolene Wong Photographs By: Eusoffworks
After smoothly going through the match against Sheares Hall, with a score of 4-1, the table tennis girls were back against Raffles Hall (RH) for their second and final preliminary match. The winning team would end up in the top seed and get an easier draw in the semi-finals. Before the match began, the atmosphere was pretty tense with the most complaints being it was super-hot everyone was tired just from standing.
To kick off the match, we had the best singles player ever, Wang Nuo! Wang Nuo calmly warmed up. When it was time to do the honour, Wang Nuo stared into her opponents eyes, stomped her foot and WHOOSH! The service went so fast that no one saw it coming! It hit the edge of the table and by the time her opponent reacted, the ball had already bounced off the table and onto the floor. On the occasion that her opponent took her service, the returns often missed the table as Wang Nuo’s service proved to be too much for her opponent to handle. This performance repeated 11 times until Wang Nuo easily took the first set! Of course, her opponent was determined to come back and in the second set things got slightly more intense. They rallied back and forth until Wang Nuo found a breakthrough to win the second set 11-7 after a close call at 8-7. In the last set, Wang Nuo was determined to finish it fast and so the game ended within 3 minutes with the final set score being 11-3. First set to Eusoff, all was good!
Up next was captain Elaine and Xuan Rui, aka the BALL MONSTER, as per her request. The doubles pair were determined to win as they knew how important their match would be to Eusoff. They were a little nervous at the beginning but from the onset they got on to a very promising start. With some pretty sikkk serves and curling shots to the edge of the table, the pair won the first set easily with a 11-6! At this point they were determined to bag another win for Eusoff. They started to smash balls like a smashing machine one after another! This double pair had such perfect teamwork one after another it was just BOOM BOOM BOOM and the second set was won! Their opponents refused to go down without a good fight and at one point, the doubles pair was 8-7 down. However, they showed RH the Eusoffian spirit and fought back with all their might! Before we knew it, it was 9-9 and everyone held their breaths! The pair then proceeded to smash so hard the opponents were helpless.Everyone was finally able to breathe! The third game went to the pair 11-9! The captain and BALL MONSTER showed RH who was boss once again.
Ball Monster Xuan Rui prepares for a deadly serve.
In the second singles we had the every smiley junior Jolyne the jojoalpaca or the Jolyne with a y in E block! It seems like she has a special thing for that cute animal. Although she is all smiles outside of the court, Jolyne becomes a totally different person once she sets foot into the table tennis court! Her opponent this time was a Malaysian state player and apparently the best in Raffles Hall! However, Jolyne remained unfazed, as she knew she was something special! At the start, Jolyne started the first match slow and steady. She rallied with the opponent and kept the balls going. However, her opponent seemed to be having a better day as she won the first set 11-4. Jolyne was as determined as an alpaca looking for food in the second game! She calmed herself down and did some insanely good shots that had her opponent open-mouthed and shocked! She even out did herself in the last set as she tied 9-9 with the opponent. This time though, it didn’t go EH’s way as and EH lost 11-8-,11-9. Everyone in the team was really proud of Jolyne for her effort as she came back to her smiley self after the match. Good job Jolyne!
In the second doubles we had Sandra the BALL SMASHER (by request) and Victoria Vicfarta! Everyone in the team spoke highly of Vicfarta as she was a MIRACLE! Despite having limited experience in Table Tennis prior to IHG, she was one of the selected few that was chosen to play for the RH match! Her improvements from the day she joined were astounding. In the first set, Vicfarta and Sandra had a slightly slow start. However, Sandra was determined to show everyone how she got her name! The pair did a couple of insane smashes that spun so much it made their opponents giddy and they fought back from behind to reach 8-9. The rallies continued and they tied at 10-10! All the Eusoffians were cheering so hard they almost lost their voices. Luckily, they didn’t as they had more to cheer for! After two intense rallies the pair ended off the game with two pretty damn good smashes and won the first set 12-10! Unfortunately, in the subsequent sets, it was not to be as despite putting up a good fight, the opponents slightly edged them out in the next 2 sets as they lost 11-2, 11-2. In the last set, the doubles pair showed their fighting spirit as they refused to go down without a good fight! Once again, they came from behind to tie the opponents 10-10 doing some good smash on the high ball at 5-5. The opponents were nervous and even called a time out at 9-7. However, ultimately the opponents pulled away and it was 12-10 to Raffles.
Vicfarta (left) going in for a backhand smash as partner Sandra (right) looks on.
Last up, it was the third singles Celeste. Celeste knew that the score was tied 2-2 and the responsibility was on her to grab the victory and the strong entry into the semi-finals! As the consistent anchor of the team, Celeste was calm and cool. She did a couple of crazy serves and causally returned some backhand smashes from the opponent in the first set! She eventually won the first set 11-3 in record time. In the second set she continued to display her prowess. Her play was pure CLASS as she ended things pretty fast winning 11-2 and 11-5! It was a very relaxing end to the semi finals thanks to Celeste. What a legend!
Overall it was an insane effort by our Table Tennis girls! The team that played this match was made up of a good mix of experienced and inexperienced players and even though their opponents were quite equally matched, it was their Eusoffian spirit of resilience and determination that shone through, which eventually led them to their victory. Good job gals and to those who didn’t manage to make it to support this match don’t worry, we’ll see you at the semi-finals!
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