IHG Updates Week 1 (part I)
Squash (M): KR vs KEVII
Our KR Squash boys were quick off the blocks in mounting their title charge, as they clinically dispatched KEVII in the opening game of the season.
Brandon got things up and running for KR in the first match, as he wasted no time and methodically picked apart his opponent. He cruised to a 3-0 victory, showing the spectators just why our squash boys are a force to be reckoned with this year. He took all 3 sets with convincing score lines, limiting his opponent to less than 3 points per set, barely breaking a sweat while doing so (thankfully for him as he would have retired if he ran too much).
Ethan then followed up with a 3-0 win of his own, with equally conclusive score lines of 11-2, 11-0, 11-1, in what was a pretty decent IHG debut for our A block Cibling. Now with a commanding 2-0 lead, all our boys needed was one more win to secure the game.
The ever-composed Jia Wen then stepped up to the plate. Looking to get the ever-important third win, Jia Wen played with a ferocity that betrayed his demure appearance and took home yet another 3-0 win, as his opponent had no answer to his barrage of powerful shots.
Despite the victory already being in the bag, KR’s captain, Russell, continued the utter domination, as he looked to start his season on a high. He bagged an emphatic 3-0 win, taking the second set with a marauding 11-0 score line.
Wrapping things up for the day was KR’s superstar, Reuben, who was (un)fashionably late, showing up in an obnoxious red shirt, against KEVII of all teams. While he may have had an identity (and fashion) crisis, his squash was certainly well in order, as he wasted no time in wrapping up his tie with another 3-0 victory, as his many years of experience proved too much for his opponent to contain.
Final Score: KR 5-0 KE (written by Ethan Liew)
Table Tennis (M): KR vs TH
Determined to start the campaign on a positive note, KR’s Table Tennis male team strutted into Sheares Hall beaming with confidence and zest. It was a star-studded team – Sing Hui, Jeddy, Yun Liang, Ming Hao, Yu Fei and captains Jerome and Weng Fai. Nevertheless, the team knew not to underestimate the difficulty of the task that lay ahead.
Undeterred, PreSingdent Sing Hui stepped up to the mantle and kicked off the game with a singles match. However, his bulging muscles and toned physique were no match for the well-trained TH athletes as KR started the match with a defeat. Unfortunately, a series of defeats followed, as both the doubles pairing of Jeddy and Yun Liang; and Ming Hao succumbed to their TH counterparts in their doubles and singles matches respectively.
Next, Table Tennis stalwart Jerome walked up to the table with partner Yu Fei with steely resolve in an attempt to salvage a point for the men in blue in the 2nd doubles match of the evening. Unfortunately, both him and co-captain Weng Fai could not claim a consolatory victory in the last two matches of the evening.
After the game, Captain Jerome had this to say: “We expected to go in and trash them like we do every year, however as we played our first sets we decided, maybe this year, we shall give others a chance to feel what triumph is like. At the end of the day, we knew that the results do not define the player. We hope that by letting others taste victory, their love for the sport will grow and spread to more people. All we do, we do for the love of Table Tennis.”
We salute the team for stepping up to make such a selfless sacrifice. We wish the Table Tennis team all the very best in their noble quest to spread love for the sport during the rest of the campaign trail.
Final Score: KR 0-5 TH (written by Kuljiv Singh)
Badminton (F): KR vs SH
Our very own shuttlers in blue kickstarted the season with the Heng Mui Keng derby, with a fiery match against Sheares Hall on Tuesday.
Starting off the line-up was Jia Wen. Jia Wen served up a series of smashes and tactical pickups that completely overwhelmed her opponent, sealing the first game for KR effortlessly, allowing KR to take an early lead. Taking to court next was our first doubles of Sherm and Sam. Easily outmaneuvering their opponents with the chemistry, winning the second game for KR. Our girls now had a commanding 2-0 lead and only needed one more game to secure the victory over our neighbours. It was now time for our KR MVP and captain, Wen Shien, to get the win in the bag. She totally outclassed her opponent with her killer moves, leaving her opponent defeated. At one point, the opponent tried a trick serve to rattle our star player, only for it to fail terribly as Wen Shien read the play and smashed back. Her opponent looked up in shock (or in awe) at her amazing reflexes and nimble footwork. Looking to put more misery on the already-concluded derby was our second doubles pair of Alex and Rachael. They smashed their way to a nail-biting finish in two sets to edge past the opponents. Once again, our girls are too robust for anyone. Last up in line, Cheryl! Despite playing with an injured wrist and having a strong opponent that surprised her on numerous instances with return-fire, she still pulled through the game with a strong fighting spirit but Sheares Hall’s top player showed no mercy...
Final Score: KR 4-1 SH (written by Tan Jie Ting)
Squash (F): KR vs KEVII
Looking to get their semi-final charge underway, our KR Squash girls kicked things off with an important match against KEVII, as the winner of this match would likely qualify for the semi-finals this season.
Getting things started for our girls was freshie Jie Ting, who put up a valiant fight against her more seasoned opponent. She came close to taking multiple games, being narrowly edged out 11-9 in both the 1st and 3rd. Hearsay she had a squash crash course 2 hours before her game, maybe that’s why she lost 2 sets by only 2 points. Coincidence? I think not...
With the team down 1-0, our squash ace, Shermin, was up next. Even though she has since retired from squash and switched to chasing plastic discs, her racketwork was still en pointe as she smashed her opponent 3-0 without even breaking a sweat, even managing to bag the second with an emphatic 11-1 scoreline, which she says she “feels bad for”. Confirm lying.
Speaking of women of many talents, captain Rachael was up next. With 3? 4? 5? (too many) sports this IHG, her wealth of experience came in handy as she dispatched her opponent with a convincing score of 3-0 to swing the tide of the tie in KR’s favour, establishing a 2-1 advantage. Talk about a captain's contribution.
Looking to secure the all-important W that would essentially guarantee qualification to the semi-finals was tennis superstar Fel. While she started the match looking a little shaky (and like she was playing tennis instead), any doubts were soon laid to rest as she got into her groove and swept her opponent 3-0.
With the match wrapped up, Jia-Xin was up next. While she put up a valiant display of guts and tenacity, her opponent ultimately managed to prevail. However, it was a case of too little too late for KEVII.
Final Score: KR 3-2 KEVII (written by Russell Wang)
Sepak Takraw: KR vs RH
Our Kent Ridge Sepak Takraw boys started off their IHG title defence on Thursday against Raffles Hall. Despite the loss of several experienced players from the 19/20 team, our Takraw boys displayed their strong spirit and skills once again.
The first regu consisted of seasoned players Howe and Minghao in the Tekong and Killer positions respectively. Jordan, the only freshie, proved to be a consistent and cool-headed setter. Controlling the ball with precision, with Howe’s reliable serves and game sense, on top of Minghao’s effortless headers, the first regu breezed to a victory. The team quickly secured the first two sets 15-08 and 15-05.
The next set saw Howe stepping out for ex-D Blockhead Alvianto to make his IHG debut as a Tekong, after training hard at 2 years of IBG. Showing great poise, he helped the team to a 15-05 win, concluding the first regu’s dominance with a 3-0 score.
Riding on their momentum, the second regu, comprising of FYF David, Jianling and captain Mave, was off to a good start. The team stormed into the first set, with the skilfully executed bicycle kicks of David, including a cheeky one to decisively end the set 15-04. The second set was another quick win, with KR scoring 15-08.
With victory already in the bag, the third regu took the stage, with captain Elgin in the Tekong position, accompanied by Sean as setter and Ashwin as killer. The first set was off to a slow start, with KR down 01-08. However, they made a gripping comeback, with the scores equalised at 12-12. Unfortunately, RH eventually won the set 13-15. The second and third sets were similarly close fights, with RH and KR’s scores tied neck to neck many times, including a tie breaker at 14-14 in the second set. Sadly, KR eventually lost the sets 14-16 and 11-15 respectively.
As KR’s captain Elgin put it, the match was definitely a good opportunity for the newbies, and a good morale boost and chemistry builder. Good job to our Takraw boys!
Final Score: KR 2-1 RH (written by Toh Yi Yun)
Badminton (M): KR vs KEVII
Our very own shuttlers in blue were off to a smashing start in their first game against KEVII last Saturday with a victory that brought them 1 step closer to becoming IHG champions.
Nora, our first singles, put up a valiant fight, but alas, was ousted by the player from KEVII, resulting in KR trailing 1-0 at the start. This being his first ever competitive badminton match, Nora showed true KR spirit as he was unwavering in his determination to win!
Moving on, our first doubles of Ting Yang and captain Shi Cong easily overpowered our slightly weaker opponents, showing complete control of the game and gaining a 3-0 win. The scores were now levelled at 1-1.
Next up was our 2nd singles player Nicholas Lim who displayed commendable effort against his opponent. Despite being new to the sport, he displayed grit and tenacity towards the end, but just fell short of the finish. The pressure was now on as our boys had to take the final 2 games to win the tie.
Despite trailing behind twice, our second doubles pair of Joshua Chin and beefcake Chris Langton never cracked under the spotlight. Finessing their opponents with their chemistry and showstopping smashes, they mounted comeback after comeback, coming in the clutch to win their game and even the score again.
With KR’s victory hanging by a thread, our last singles, superstar Joshua Cheng, swooped in to deal the final blow as he showed no mercy, demolishing his opponent to bag a 3-0 win, giving us the overall triumph over KEVII.
In light of their victory, captain Shi Cong, who initially expected nothing but the worst from his team, commented that “Winning is expected, sports D Yinghao should add more funds to badminton definitely.” Let’s all continue to support our Badminton Boys as they continue defying expectations this season.
Final Score: KR 3-2 KEVII (written by Russell Wang)
Tennis (F): KR vs TH
On Wednesday, our Kent Ridge tennis girls were up against Temasek Hall in their first preliminary matchup.
The first pair to take the court, Rachael and Cheryl, consistently exhibited laudable support for one another after each point, with ferocious high fives. Despite going into the game as underdogs, the girls put up a valiant fight against the clearly more skilled and experienced TH players as they endeavored to return every ball they could, regardless of how tough it was to successfully pull off these return strokes.
In spite of the disparity in talent, this pair did strikingly well to hold their own, as they managed to force their opponents into several mistakes, winning 3 straight points during one of the runs they made to chip away at their opponents’ lead. However, they just fell short in the end.
Wangnee and Michelle, the second pair, were fending off their opponents in the adjacent court. It was heartwarming to observe such a strong never-say-die attitude in this pair, as they continued to fight against the odds after every unfortunate service fault committed. There were several rallies back and forth between the 2 teams, as the girls gave their best to go after every ball. Unfortunately, TH eventually proved too much as they took a 2-0 lead in the game.
On the third court was Vanessa taking on her TH opponent in a single’s match. Like her teammates, she exhibited strong determination throughout, despite facing a stronger opponent. However, her opponent prevailed and TH took an unassailable 3-0 lead, securing the tie. They eventually won the last 2 games to come out 5-0 victors overall.
Final Score: KR 0-5 TH (written by Lin Bak Hin and Stella Xue)