IHG Semi-Final Szn
Touch Rugby (M) Semi-Finals: KR vs TH
Our Touch Rugby boys continued their chase for the championship last Saturday, battling it out with Temasek Hall in the semi-finals.
The first lineup started with Derek and Yiqi as the middles, along with Zheying and Koi as the links. Yet again, Derek bagged the first try just minutes after the start of the match, setting the tone for the team. The match continued with both sides fighting hard, with both sides displaying excellent teamwork. The first set ended with a 1-1 tie, with yet another intense match in store.
The second lineup came in with John and Choy as the middles, and Nigel and Chris Langton as the links. The set started off fiercely with a tackle by our boys seconds into the set, presenting a strong defence. The game continued with our boys breaking down TH’s defence slowly, inching their way forward. Our boys scored 2 tries in the set, giving us a lead before passing on to the third lineup.
The team then passed over to Andrew, Zach, Marcus and Jin Tat. The team continued piling on the pressure against TH, attacking stealthily as they kept the ball close to score line. The boys ended the first half with us leading with a score of 4-1.
The boys continued playing hard, with KR scoring the first try of the second half, putting us in a commanding lead. The game continued with both sides playing hard and our boys not letting their guard down, eventually leading us to victory.
Captain John Soh credited the win to a good team effort and the strong support along the sidelines that cheered the team on. While it was a comfortable win, he made sure to prep the team for the upcoming finals match against EH. With the team being one step closer to champions, the boys kept their morale high and fought hard. Good job to our Trug boys!
Final Score: KR 9-2 TH (written by Nicole Ng)
Touch Rugby (F) Semi-Finals : KR vs TH
In the prelude to the finals, our KRuggers faced off against TH on Saturday. Would this game turn out to be a good warmup for our girls with championship aspirations? Or will they fall short?
TH started the game strong, with a swift move to score the first try of the game, causing their bench to erupt into cheers. In hindsight, it was indeed worth celebrating as it was now time for our girls to take over the game. It was clear that their first line was no match for the barrage of attacks launched by our first line’s middle duo of Vanessa and Amanda. They charged up the field relentlessly, setting the links, Jia Yi and Janelle, up to score.
Our second line was led by captain Xuan in the middle, who took it upon herself to set up a play. This well-executed play started with the link, Yi Ling, swerving to shift the defence towards the middle, Xiao Wen, who then cut in from the wing to sneak behind the defence and even up the score for KR.
With their slim lead eviscerated, TH’s confidence was visibly shaken, as their second line committed several penalties and fumbled the ball. One such penalty saw Yi Ling breaking through the defence up the field, and passing off to set up the link, Alicia, on the wing. Alicia promptly completed the exhilarating sequence by setting the ball on the ground with finesse, extending KR’s lead further to 3-1.
TH’s third line was unable to find openings within KR’s tight defence, which pressured every player whenever they got the ball, moving in cohesion to cover each other’s gaps. The ball swung back and forth between middles Angel and Janine, before Angel made a slick move to sidestep her defender, leaving the defender in her wake before she dove to ground the ball on the try line.
In the second half, KR’s defence was an impregnable fortress, holding their opponents scoreless. Amanda stood out in particular, diving to the ground to touch the opponent in consecutive possessions to prevent TH from scoring. KR then put the nail in the coffin with 1 try from Amanda and 2 tries from Xuan, securing their spot in the finals and sending TH home.
KR definitely did well to translate their dominance on paper into a decisive victory on the field. We now move on victoriously to face Eusoff in the finals.
Final Score: KR 8-1 TH (written by Lin Bak Hin)
Tennis (M) Semi-Finals: KR vs TH
The time was upon our KR tennis boys to prove themselves. Matched up against last year’s champions, Temasek Hall, for a spot in the finals, our boys faced a mighty challenge, where they gave their all to attain glory.
First up was Jack in the first singles game, still undefeated this season. Dealing the first blow to TH, Jack dominated from the first point to the last, controlling the game with ferocious serves and pin-point strokes. His opponent fought hard, salvaging an almost-impossible ball by hitting a tweener once, but Jack still easily triumphed, redirecting the ball out of reach. The first game went to KR, with a set score of 6-0 and 6-0.
Momentum was now on our boys’ side, and it was up to Jem and captain Ashkwah to capitalise. Despite facing TH’s stronger doubles pairing, they were undaunted by the task and returned many of their opponents’ powerful groundstrokes. Unfortunately, they lost in 2 closely contested sets. The scores were now level at 1-1.
Up stepped our other captain, Ethan, in the second singles. Always a talented player, he displayed his skills to full effect in the first set, with expertly placed dropshots catching his opponent out multiple times. Winning the first set 6-4, his opponent then bounced back to take the second set. All eyes were now on the crucial decider, the third set.
Ethan continued his barrage on TH, when he jumped to a 3-1 lead. However, now visibly tired, his prediction for himself came through, and he struggled to finish his match because he is fat. Fighting through a troubled ankle and cramping, he battled valiantly until the end, falling just short with the final set going 4-6 to TH.
With every game now a must-win, the last singles match saw former captain Ashton Toh take on a tireless opponent, and the doubles saw Sen and Yiqi going for victory. Ashton’s amazing ball control and perseverance just fell short, with his opponent running down almost every ball of his. Visibly fatigued, Ashton managed to keep each set close, his opponent just barely grasping on for victory. Sen and Yiqi also showed great composure throughout, despite finding themselves dropping the first set. They came back and took the second set with ease, but it was too little too late.
Our boys put up one hell of a fight against last year’s IHG champions, and will be back with a vengeance next year! Great job lads!
Final Score: KR 1-4 TH (written by Miguel)
Road Relay
This year’s road relay (M) kicked off with Ashwin as the first runner, finishing 5th place slightly ahead of our neighbour along Heng Mui Keng Terrace, Sheares Hall. Our next runner, Co-Captain Jon Wong, ran hard and chased after the other halls. While we didn’t manage to catch up to the other halls, a line of girls could be seen cheering Jon as he ran past with his muscular calves, stunning everyone he ran past. I guess the only chase was the girls chasing after Jon.
Our next runner was no other than Track Captain Mark, who was also last year’s Road Relay Captain. As the team’s second fastest runner, Mark placed 4th among all the 3rd runners, slightly behind EH. Track captain really be a different breed. The other Co-Captain, Yun Liang, then took over, fighting hard for KR, maintaining our 6th place. His run for KR could be seen on @kentridgesports live broadcast as they drove along, cheering Yun Liang on. Lastly, our fastest runner, Cliff, clocked an extraordinary timing of 7:08. He ran hard with KR finishing 6th, “second first from the last!” in Co-Captain Jon’s words.
When asked on his comments on how the team did, Jon said “We will come back stronger next year, as per what we said last year.” He also added on, saying “never again, Road Relay is a freshie sport.” On the other hand, Yun Liang (according to Jon) said “I love RR. RR is my life. RR is my passion.” Despite the tough competition, our boys did their best, ran for each other and conquered the race.
Unfortunately, the girls’ road relay team did not participate in this event as “they got jusss-ed” into withdrawing accidentally. We know our star runner Vanessa, along with the our girls, would have blazed the trail and done their best if they ran anyway. Nevertheless, a very good job to our Road Relay team!
(written by Nicole Ng)
Squash (M) Semi-Finals: KR vs RH
Our Squash boys moved one step closer to taking top spot this IHG after their clean sweep of dark horses Raffles Hall.
Our opponents brought the fight to us from the get-go, as they opted to go against conventional wisdom and fielded a lineup which saw them pit their best players against ours. What this meant was that instead of maximizing their chances of winning individual ties, they were looking to match us strength for strength – something rarely seen at the IHG level.
This left our boys a tad rattled, as Brandon dropped the first set against his spirited opponent, much to the shock of the team. Thankfully, he was able to recover well, and displayed the mental strength of a champion to best his opponent, and take the first tie for KR.
Following a tough first tie, Reuben restored some sense of normalcy with a convincing battering of his opponent, with his rocket-like drives too much for his opponent to contain. The boys now had a comfortable 2-0 lead.
Needing 1 more win, Jia Wen was up next, and he too took his tie in an assertive fashion, as his much less experienced opponent had no answer for his onslaught of crisp drives. With that, this fixture, as well as our berth in the finals was in the bag.
Wrapping up the night was Russell and Ethan, both of whom won their matches with emphatic 3-0 score lines. While Russell looked assured on court and seemed to be hitting his stride from the off, Ethan looked a little erratic and had to fall back on his movement to bail him out of trouble on a couple of occasions.
With this thorough win against Raffles, our boys looked to sharpen their arsenal of shots before they take on title rivals TH on Sunday, in a rematch of their group game earlier in the season.
Final Score: KR 5-0 RH (written by Ethan Liew)