Written by: Jarrel Koh
Edited by: Jared Rajiv
Photos by: EusoffWorks
Eusoff Tennis (M) faced off in their second preliminary match against Kent Ridge Hall. The lineup was stacked, featuring Eusoffian superstars such as Timothy for 1st Singles, captain Ben Wong for 2nd Singles (freshie captain how good???), Dylan Seah for 3rd Singles, Han and Yi Chen for 1st Doubles (what a power combi), Joshua “JJ Lin” Lim and Si Heng for 2nd Doubles.
Timothy’s match started off so strong that the commentator thought that he was still warming up, but it was already 2-0. His court presence caused KR to hit many out balls, and with his solid playstyle, the match was over 9-0 before anyone knew it. (seriously, it’s difficult to write this article referencing the commentary because his match ended that quickly)
Ben’s match also went so well that when he took a water break, some thought that he had already won the match. His rallies were good and consistent, and he played very well both offensively as well as defensively for fast balls. It’s hard to believe that with a final score of 9-1, he was worried sick the night before about facing off KR and saying that he will get destroyed. Our captain is both humble and skilled, not to mention irresistibly attractive.
Tennis (M) captain Ben making his opponent chase the ball with his superb forehand shot
Han and Yi Chen, the LYLC duo, was the perfect blend of raw talent and the occasional trolling. Yi Chen’s serves were all power serves, but most of them went straight into the net (kidding we love Yi Chen). Sometimes his serves will cause Han to get jumpscared and I think that’s good chemistry. When they were up 3-2, Han executed a massive smash into KR’s court, and Yi Chen managed an excellent drop shot. Their opponent was heard saying “I can’t run already”, as in they can’t run from Eusoff’s Y4 tennis beasts. Overall, they took the match 9-5.
Legendary doubles partners Han and Yi Chen destroying their opponents on the court
Joshua and Si Heng were unfortunately paired with KR’s top 2 seeds, both stacked in a doubles lineup. Their opponents were both strong IVP players, and as such it was a tough match due to the sheer difference in skill level. Though they eventually lost 3-9, it was not without a good fight with amazing highlights from both of them. As Joshua puts it, when they are against someone undoubtedly better than them, a lot of pressure is relieved from ‘needing’ to win the match if they were the favourites, and having nothing to lose, they went for more riskier but rewarding plays. Wise words to live by.
Dylan initially was down to KR 1-2, and double faulted to lose the 3rd game. After a pep talk from Timothy, Dylan managed to pop off, and hit an insane corner shot, eventually coming back to 3-3, then 4-4. Yet, the match was still a relatively close one, continuing to tie up to 6-6 at one point, and subsequently 7-7. With the whole tennis team supporting him, he finally finished up the final match of the night 9-7 after a long but well deserved victory.
As our tennis boys start to reach the more exciting and intense semi-finals/finals period of IHG, our support for them also needs to pick up. Let’s go down to the tennis court and talk it up like yeah (Lorde reference because Eusoff tennis players also our lords), and cheer our superstars on!
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