Written by: Jarrel Koh
Edited by: Jared Rajiv
Photos by: EusoffWorks
Eusoff Tennis (F) started their IHG journey with their first preliminary match against King Edward VII Hall. Before the match, the team huddled and had a 5 minute pep talk by their very own captain, Min. I couldn’t hear much of the speech but after they dispersed Min could be heard saying “I think that speech was not bad sia.” Truly, the strong performances by her players on the court do her words justice.
5 matches were played concurrently by an extremely promising lineup of Eusoffians. For Singles, we have Wei Shan, Renee, and Jolene. For Doubles, we have Carlin and Sze Han, as well as Anna and Yiyin. (writer’s note: Wei Shan’s match along with Carlin and Sze Han’s were live streamed on Eusoff’s SMC page while the other 3 matches were commentated on Telegram, so apologies for the discrepancy of each court’s details in this article :c)
Renee kicked off her first game with a clean ace against KE, and followed through with a flawless victory. Every other time I checked, her scores just kept increasing: 1-0, 2-0, 3-0… and eventually she achieved a perfect 9-0 game against KE. It was over in a blink of an eye, and she remained focused throughout her entire match. Mad respect to her dedication. She played to her best ability each game and absolutely did not let her guard down.
Matching Renee’s dominance was Wei Shan on court 4, who won with an outstanding score of 9-1, securing another point for Eusoff overall.
When I went to commentate Jolene’s game, I realised she was already up 8-0. Perhaps out of the goodwill of her heart, she decided to give one game point to KE and ended her match with a score of 9-1. Her services earned her many aces as her opponent scrambled to find the return.
Carlin and Sze Han also cleaned up their court with monster serves, ending their match with a score of 9-?
An outstretched yet composed Sze Hann reaching to return the ball
On Court 7 we witnessed WWIII, a battle of the century put up by our tenacious players Anna and Yiyin. This match was the closest of all the courts. Their scores were evenly matched by KE, going back and forth with score lines of 1-1, 2-2, 3-3 and so on. Anna could be heard cheering Yiyin on throughout their losses, saying things like “We can do it, don’t worry!” Very positive and wholesome energy and a prime example that sports don’t need to be toxic. At one point they were down 4-6, and all the other courts were finished with the matches. All eyes were on them but they thrived under the pressure, with the pair taking the sudden death game point 5-6 as Yiyin returned KE’s attack with a quick volley and Anna finishing the point with a perfect backhand stroke.
Anna winding up to rip a blistering serve headed to KEs court
Following this game, Anna said she needed to watch some motivational quote videos. Hopefully she found some by the release of this article. They take the subsequent game 6-6 once again with a sudden death at 40-40. The comeback was looking good for EH, with notable highlights such as Anna crashing into KE’s supporters when she tried to return KE’s serve, Han stepping in to settle a dispute between KE supporters and the umpire with the wise and stern words “let the players make the call”, and more volleys and spikes from the pair to eventually earn Eusoff a win of 9-6, 5-0 to KE overall.
Yiyin composed on the court as she prepares to return a shot
This first match for the Eusoff Tennis team showed everyone that they aren’t going to walk off the court without fighting with their fullest effort and determination, and we can only expect great things from them in their subsequent matches. Be sure to support these talented athletes this coming Wednesday against KR!
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