Written by: Jarrel Koh
Edited by: Jared Rajiv
Photos by: EusoffWorks
Eusoff Tennis (F) faced off against Raffles Hall in the semi-finals (18/01), featuring Bernice as the team’s best supporter and commentator (truly a notable freshie in and out the court). The team’s momentum was quite unstoppable at this point in the IHG journey, and the players were ready to storm the court and shower their opponents balls with a rainfall of balls. Were they able to flood RH with aces and smashes to drench them in defeat?
Obviously all these rainy words have meaning because many of our players’ matches were ruined or postponed by the rain… :( But our players still put up a show and powered through nature’s wrath - the following was written in consideration of several matches being disrupted.
For Singles, we have Erica, Wei Shan, and Jolene. For Doubles, the power duo of Min and Violent remained, as well as Renee and Anna. They were ferocious, like cats and dogs (cos rain haha), prepared to secure their third W of IHG.
Erica was up against RH’s IVP player, but this didn’t shatter her confidence and game-winning abilities one bit. In fact she was so good she only needed to hold one ball with her pockets empty since there’s no room for double faults. She took the first game only letting her opponent have one point, and put up good fights and comebacks in subsequent games, and she continued to lead 5-0 and take the first set. Her match ended as the rain started to get heavier, but her victory was quicker, and with sets of 6-0 and 6-2 in games, she took EH’s first overall match.
Wei Shan had a Netflix drama moment as she faced off against her ex-JC classmate. In her second game, she had a mighty comeback from 15-30 to take the game, and was up 2-0. If they had beef to settle, Wei Shan was not having any of it, continuing to lead relentlessly up to 5-0. The score progressed to 6-3, granting her a first victorious set. Unfortunately the rain started to ruin her momentum and the second set was left at a score of 1-3.
Min and Violet’s match started off with Violet’s serves, synonymous with aces, as RH was unable to return her zoomy balls. Her consistency was key and they took the first game. They faced a bit of difficulty later on and were down 1-4 at one point, then 2-5. At this point some observers suspected that the wind was helping RH as they threw our players off, allowing them to take the lead…? Seems like the only logical explanation. RH ended up taking the first set, but that didn’t stop Min and Violent from making plays, and Violet executed a beautiful drop shot. “I went forward but she spin so good”, said the RH player. The rain killed their comeback story and the scores were 2-6 for first set, and unfinished at 1-3 for the second.
Renee and Anna took their first game in their match, and continued with Renee and her power volleys and Anna’s fast serves. The score moved up to 4-2 and eventually they took their first set, 6-2. Despite Anna’s energy manifesting the same vibe as the burning heart emoji, the second set wasn’t continued with an anti-climatic score of 1-0.
Anna leaning into her powerful serve which caused problems for RH
Jolene managed very well on her court, quietly taking her first set 6-1. She probably felt a need to race against the bad weather and she was very much on her way to quickly secure a second overall match for EH, but the rain stopped her second set at 4-0.
Anyway… the semi-finals continued 2 days later. The rain threatened to postpone the game again but thankfully our players could continue. They fought against the weather to win 3-0 overall, which meant that they took semi-finals, but the rain got heavier and the 2 matches were supposed to be played another day on the 25th. But it rained again! Props to our players for persevering and actually having to go down and play multiple sessions to secure a solid win. Hopefully they can finish off their finals strong without any weather disruptions this Friday. Stay tuned!
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