Written by: Jared Rajiv Tan Sreedharan
Edited by: Angelina Grace Pandiman
Photos by: Eusoff Works
Tonight our table tennis guys face Sheares in the Semi-Finals of the IHG 21/22. Looking confident stepping into the match, as they aim to push through to the finals and remain undefeated all the way. This is a win-or-go-home match, but I have the utmost confidence that our team will deliver the finishing blow to SH.
For the first singles match, we had Russell. He was off to a slow start as SH took the lead 1-4, but made a strong comeback with his even stronger smashes, to bring it up 9-9. However, SH managed to close out the first set just by a bit 9-11. Once again Russell was on the backfoot as Sheares was in the lead for the majority of the set but once again Russell managed to bring it back 10-10. It was a back and forth battle from here, but his heavy hits were the deciding factor as he pulled away 16-14. Perhaps tired from the long second set, SH managed to take the third set barely 7-11. It was a different story in the fourth set, as Russell found his rhythm and destroyed his opponent 11-4. In the deciding set for this match, Russell was down 1-4 early on, but with ice in his veins, he clawed his way back to force a match point to Eusoff 11-10. Unfortunately, SH managed to close it out 11-13 and took game 1, by a very slim margin.
First Singles (Russell): 9-11, 16-14, 7-11, 11-4, 11-13
Overall Set Score: 2-3 to SH
rly so close to destroying his opponent!
The next match was our captain and ace, Klaus and Joash. They kicked things off on the offense, with smash after smash, resulting in a solid start and an 11-4 beating. Both players were on their top form, racking up points with their serves and blocks this time, ending it quickly 11-4. The third set, saw the duo with an 8-6 lead, however, Sheares called timeout in an attempt to throw off their flow, but they replied in excellent fashion by getting 3 consecutive points and calling game 11-6.
First Doubles (Klaus and Joash): 11-4, 11-4, 11-6
Overall Set Score: 3-0 to EH
The second singles representing Eusoff was national player Bevan. If you saw Bevan’s debut yesterday. The theme of his gameplay is calm and tactical, and he carried that same cool mentality to this game too. Bevan’s topspin shots were too fast to return for his opponent, although, respect to his opponent for keeping it close, nevertheless Bevan steals the first set 12-10. Bevan simply toyed with his opponent and really made him work for every point, and at one point caused his opponent to fall down. All that effort was still not enough to stop Bevan, as he takes the second and third set, 11-5 and 11-6 respectively.
Second Singles (Bevan): 12-10, 11-5, 11-6
Overall Set Score: 3-0 to EH
In the potentially final set of the night was our dynamic duo Cheewan and Hengkai. Their opponents were towering over them, but that don’t matter, because heart over height. Although there were some unforced errors on our end, they more than made up for it with a couple of tough shots and defense, the two took the first set comfortable 11-4. A slow-ish start from the pair meant that they were trailing for most of the set, however pulled back 5 points in a row to claim the second set 11-8. Cheewan and Hengkai went on a 5-0 run to kick things off in the third set, to eventually close it out 11-2.
Second Singles (Cheewan and Hengkai): 11-4, 11-8, 11-2
Overall set score: 3-0 to EH
the pair that solidified our semis win, LFGGGG
As our boys continue to remain undefeated, go support them as they look to win it all, and take home the gold for Eusoff. The only thing left is to win their last game. Next Stop: Finals!!
Overall Score: 3-1 to EUSOFF!!!
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