Written By: Rika Ogawa Edited By: Valerie Chua & Jolene Wong Photographs By: Eusoffworks
It finally came down to the semi-finals match for Eusoff Table tennis team. The girls were up against Temasek Hall (TH) and the guys team was up against Kent Ridge (KR) Hall. Before the matches began, the atmosphere was tense and both sides were ferociously warming up. For the girl’s team, winning Temasek would not only bring them to the finals, it would also mean gaining crucial points for Eusoff. When the lineup for the girl’s team came out, the mood was slightly sombre as the line up had not gone exactly the way we planned. Nevertheless, the girls were optimistic and endeavoured to do their best.
To start the game off, we had Chloe. She was a little nervous but a whole lot determined! She knew that the line-up wasn’t ideal, but she knew the importance of her game. Although her match was at the start of the game, it was seen to be the decider for the rest of the matches. Chloe started the game off strong, snatching away the first few points from her opponents with good services. She led all the way and eventually pulled away in the first set to win 11-4. In the second match, the opponent seemed to have gotten a hang of the game and begin to attack back. Even though Chloe tried her best to put up a good fight in the second set, even when she was down 6-8, a time out called by her opponent when she was 7-8 down disrupted the momentum and she eventually lost the second set 11-7. In the third set, Chloe continued fighting hard and she almost turned things around by forcing her opponent to make an error and caught back 8-9 from being down 4-7. Unfortunately, she dropped the third set with a score of 11-8 to TH.
In the fourth set all the spectators breathed a sigh of relief as Chloe began catching up and leading 8-3. However, the atmosphere was super intense as there were times when her opponent began to catch up. However, slowly and steadily, Chloe managed to secure the fourth set in 11-9. The overall score was now tied at 2-all and it was all down to the last set. In the last set, both Chloe and her opponent decided to slow things down and focused on rallying some shots. After some nail-biting heart-stopping rallies, Chloe finally pulled away and won the match with an 11-8. WHAT. A. COMEBACK. Loud cheers erupted as everyone knew half the battle was won. It was a super tough fight but a well deserved win! GOOD JOB CHLOE.
Calm Chloe taking it one point at a time, winning the first match for Eusoff.
Moving on to the first pair- the infamous BALL MONSTER and BALL SMASHER, Xuan Rui and Sandra were the first doubles. The doubles pair started off strong but despite putting in some good shots and having good teamwork, they lost the first set to Temasek 11-5. In the second set, the BALL pair was determined to do better than the first set. They gave it all they had playing steadily and ensuring that minimal mistakes were made. Despite a couple of good rallies and good smashes, Temasek won the match with set scores of 11-5, 11-6. Despite the results, the supporters still cheered loudly for the pair as they could see the effort and never-give-up attitude that this double pair displayed. Good job gals!
It was then the 2nd singles Wang Nuo turn to play. Wang Nuo one of the best ever table tennis Eusoffian to exist and she sure showed why she was the best. She calmly served and played her game. Despite trying her best, and putting in some good rallies, her opponent seemed to be unable to keep up with Wang Nuo’s pace of game. Wang Nuo rallied steadily and took opportunities to smash to the opponent’s backhand in record speed. She eventually took the first set 11-4. In the second set, she was determined to do better than the first set and she won the set 11-1 so fast you’d probably miss it if you blinked! In the last set, Wang Nuo kept up the momentum and her win meant that Eusoff was one win away from a spot in the finals.
The fourth match was played by Jolyne jojoalpaca and captain Elaine. Their match could potentially give Eusoff the victory they needed. Thus, when the game begin everyone was anxious to see if they would perform. They knew that their match was going to be tough as they were pretty evenly matched with their opponents. However, once the match started, the difference was clear. The doubles pair started off with a strong start leading the game 7-0. A strong smash by Jolyne that had everyone stunned then brought Eusoff to win their first game 11-3. They continued to rule the game as they continued their second set with a 7-1 lead before eventually 11-3. In the last set of the doubles, TH tried their best to put up a fight. They eventually succumbed to the jojoalpaca and Elaine as Eusoff won the last set 11-8. Leading 3-1 overall, this win meant that Eusoff had already won the game and are through to the finals! Nonetheless, we were down to our last singles player, Celeste, to seal the deal.
Smiley Jolyne going in for a smash!
The last and final game was played by the Celeste. She was up against Temasek first seed, who is also a national player. However, nothing could deter Celeste from giving it her best effort. Despite taking all of the Temasek shots bravely and putting up some pretty intense rallies, Celeste could not take the game from Temasek. However, she did not give up and continued to push on for every shot regardless of the score line. In that moment, she was just telling herself to win one point at a time. Even though she lost the first two set 11-2, 11-2, some good smashes and curling shot she put in the last set allowed her to gain more points as she lost 11-4. Even though she lost, Eusoff was still very proud of Celeste.
Overall, the girls managed to pull of a much-needed victory against Temasek. It was the true epitome of a display of the Eusoffian spirit. Regardless of the odds stacked against us, we came out stronger and eventually won the game! Good job girls!
Simultaneously, the guys match against KR was ongoing. The guys team had trained very hard previously and they really wanted to clench this victory to face THl in the finals.
From the start, everyone only had one goal – to win. Choon Hooi, the first singles clearly knew what he had to do as he started off with a strong smash and led the game 3-2. He continued the strong performance and continued leading 9-6. His opponent was evenly matched to him as both sides took turns bagging points. To pull away, Choon Hooi had to give his full concentration. The rallies were long and intense and the ball was so fast they had to stand far away from the table to receive each other’s shots. They were evenly matched until Choon Hooi saved a match point at 9-10 and he eventually pulled away to win the match 12-10. The first match win must have given him a huge confidence booster as he continued his streak being 9-7 up and eventually winning his second game 11-8. He clearly scared his opponent off with his intense looks as he won the third set in casual fashion with a score of 11-5, putting in some good smashes.
In the second doubles, Captain Carlin and Ming Hao knew that it was their time to shine. They started off with some good services and casual smashes that left their opponents helpless. They led 8-3 in the first set and they never looked back as they took the first set 11-3. In the second set, after gaining their momentum, they seemed to come back stronger as they hit some hard and fast smashes that forced their opponents to float the ball. When the ball was high, Carlin took the opportunity to do a strong forehand smash that sent the ball almost flying out of the multi-purpose sports hall. Nevertheless, Eusoff won the second set 11-4. In the last set, the KR doubles pair missed a strong smash and the doubles pair won the game in 11-5.
Captain Carlin (left) going for his killer serve as partner Ming Hao (right) looks on.
For the second singles we had Raimie the CAREBEAR who is named by request. Although Raimie looks big and fierce, he is a big softie teddy bear hence is name. But this CAREBEAR sure is no softie on court. He casually served and stomped his feet for impact. It clearly worked as he begin to win in record time as his opponent was unable to return his serves. It seemed that no matter which shot he hit, he won. He smashed he won, he floated the ball he won, he served he won. In the end, he won the first two sets 11-1, 11-1 in the shortest time ever to win a match. Solid record right there. In the third set, Raimie slipped slightly as he lost one point more than he wanted to and won the match 11-2. He might a big softie on court after all.
The next pair that was up was Zhi Xin and Leyuan. Although they knew that the Eusoff had already secured their spot in the finals, they were still determined to give It their best shot and increase the lead of the victory. They started off strong as Leyuan’ strong smash caused the opponents return to miss the table bringing the score to 5-2. They then repeated a couple more rallies and eventually won the first set 11-6. A good serve in the second set brought Eusoff 7-4 up and after showing some insane teamwork and smashing like ball machines from 3 feet off the table, the doubles pair eventually took the second and third set 11-5, 11-6 after misses from the opponent.
Full face of concentration as Zhi Xin prepares to serve.
Lastly, we had Cheewan! Cheewan put on his serious and determined face as he was determined to show KR just who was boss. With a couple of brilliant smashes, Cheewan won the first match 11-7. Although his opponent came back strong in the second game and kept doing some smashes, Cheewan calmly floated the ball back and waited for his opportunity to attack. Despite being behind by 5 points, the opponent managed to catch up to Cheewan to even the score 9-9. Cheewan showed why he was the better player as he managed to break the tie and win the set 11-9.
However, in the third set, it would be the other way around. Even though Cheewan caught back to his opponent when he was 7-10 down and managed to deuce the game 10-10 with some shots with forced the opponent to make errors, the opponent eventually still managed to turn the game around and the third set ended with Cheewan hitting the ball off the table. In the fourth set, not wanting to bring the match to a fifth set, Cheewan gave it his all. He fought hard and as the game levelled at 7-6, he managed to pull away to eventually clinch victory at 11-7.
What a match for the Eusoff guys team as they managed to pull off a 5-0 victory against KR. Their spirits were high and they knew that their victory was due to all of their determination and hard work put in over the months of training. The finals for both the male and female matches for Table Tennis will be held tomorrow. Will they be able to continue their brilliant performance? Come down to support the Table Tennis teams tomorrow morning at 10am at KEVII. See you there!
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