Written by: Jared Rajiv Tan Sreedharan
Edited by: Angelina Grace Pandiman
Photos by: Eusoff Works
Another late night for the Eusoff Table Tennis team but this time it was our guy’s team that stepped onto the IHG stage facing off against KE7. With the stacked lineup they had, their confident presence was obvious, as the spotlight was shone onto the players.
Starting us off was Hengkai, who fired on all cylinders from the getgo, with a mixture of drop shots and smashes. This resulted in a comfortable first set victory for Hengkai, 11-5. The story was the same for Hengkai in the second set, as he continued to tire his opponent out, ending the set with a smooth backhand finish 11-4. The third set was fairly close, as KE7 managed to keep up for the first half at least, where at one point it was 5-5 level pegging. The KE7 bench got excited for some reason, but Hengkai silenced them as he proceeded to score 6 straight to end the first game 11-5 in favor of Eusoff.
First Single (Hengkai): 11-5, 11-4, 11-5
Overall Set Score: 3-0 EH win
The next match was our first doubles match, comprising of Table Tennis captain Klaus and freshie star Denzel. KE was relatively close in the beginning, but they kept their distance, with nicely placed shots from both players, Klaus and Denzel managed to pull away giving us a first set victory of 11-5. The combination of attacks from the pair kept coming and was too much for KE to handle, thrashing them 11-2. Denzel feeling himself, casually flexed on the IG Livestream if yall were fortunate enough to catch it (sigma male grindset). The third set was neck and neck, down to the wire, resulting in the first deuce of the night. A tightly contested set, unfortunately, KE7 managed to steal one set away from us 11-13. To kickstart the fourth set, KE drew first blood however, Denzel got a service ace, coupled with Klaus’ sick backhand topspin shot down the line gave us all the momentum they needed to close out the second game of the night 11-5.
First Doubles (Klaus and Denzel): 11-5, 11-2, 11-13, 11-5
Overall Set Score: 3-1 EH win
Representing Eusoff in the second singles match was Joash. From the start, it was evident that Joash was far superior, and the first set reflected that quite effectively, with a thumping 11-2 win. The next set followed the same theme, with Joash ending the set in 3 minutes, with a scoreline of 11-4. In the final set, Joash was playing with his food and started toying with his opponent, with some interesting lobs, however, his baits worked and confused his opponent even further. The set ended slightly closer at 11-8, but nevertheless still a clean sweep.
Second Single (Joash): 11-2, 11-4, 11-8
Overall Set Score: 3-0 EH win
In the second doubles game, Cheewan and Gerald were the next two battle players. Their diverse arsenal of defense and offense caused many problems for the opposition, where they were able to slow down play and disrupt the opponent’s flow, or attack quickly and catch them off guard, allowing Cheewan and Gerald to calmly take the first set 11-6. The second set kickstarted with KE7 retaliating quite fiercely, pushing them to 4 point lead, 5-9. However, there were some clutch plays by Cheewan and Gerald, as they clawed back to tie it up with 9 all. Sadly, KE had some lucky shots that proved to be enough to take the second set. Despite dropping the second set, the calm and collected duo answered in style, converting important points with their serves and neatly placed shots, grabbing the third and fourth set dominantly.
Second Doubles (Cheewan and Gerald): 11-6, 9-11, 11-2, 11-8
Overall Set Score: 3-1 EH win
The final match of the day was Keane, fans cheering him on, from the bench and the IG Livestream (what a popular man). Keane kept it close from the start, with a mixture of slices and smashes, however, the KE7 player who would moan after every point won, managed to come away with a slim victory of 7-11. The moans perhaps threw Keane off his game a little, because it would definitely throw me off. Even though Keane kept it level pegging until the very end, KE managed to pull away at the last second. In the third set, Keane managed to find his groove, and his shots began to connect nicely. With a number of powerful smashes that were too good to return, he swiftly takes a set back 11-6. The last set ended in a 3-11 victory for KE, but it was a valiant effort from Keane, who kept pushing until the end.
Third Singles (Keane): 7-11, 7-11, 11-6, 3-11
Overall Set Score: 1-3
A great start to the guy’s Table Tennis IHG 21/22 journey, expect to see more fierce smashes and sexy spin shots in the games ahead. Catch these talented guys on eusoff_smc IG live or tune in to @ihgtabletennis, where they will be facing PGP on the 15th of Jan.
First Single (Hengkai): 11-5, 11-4, 11-5
Overall Set Score: 3-0 EH win
First Doubles (Klaus and Denzel): 11-5, 11-2, 11-13, 11-5
Overall Set Score: 3-1 EH win
Second Single (Joash): 11-2, 11-4, 11-8
Overall Set Score: 3-0 EH win
Second Doubles (Cheewan and Gerald): 11-6, 9-11, 11-2, 11-8
Overall Set Score: 3-1 EH win
Third Singles (Keane): 7-11, 7-11, 11-6, 3-11
Overall Set Score: 1-3
OVERALL SCORE: 4-1 EH Win
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