7 Jan: Sepak Takraw
Sepak Takraw
KE : RH 2 : 1
KE : TH 0 : 3
Semi-Finals
KE : EH 0 : 3
Kudos to the KE7 Sepak Takraw team!
The 7th of January was THE day which all the Sepak players of KE7 have been waiting for, and for which they have trained so hard.
Sepak Takraw is a ball game played with three players on each team. The ball is small in size and traditionally made up of rattan. The players can touch the ball with any part of their body, except the hands. The head and feet are used most of the time.
KE vs Raffles
9.15 a.m. The match, due to start at 9 a.m., still has not started. Players from both Raffles and KE teams roam around the KR hall, awaiting the kickstart of what would be an intense match between them. Finally, at around 9.30 a.m., the first match of the first set begins. KE7 vs Raffles hall for the preliminary round.
On the KE team, we saw Terence, Yuan Yan and Colin give an honorable performance against the Raffles team, considering that they were the first ones to play and were under a lot of stress and pressure. However, Raffles tackled the situation better and won the first set.
The second set was taken up by players Xing Hua, Teo Peng and Yan Hua from KE. They set off on a good note, marking the first point. This set saw some impressive head shots by our number 19, Yan Hua. While Raffles led in the first half of the match, KE soon caught up. To the immense joy of all Keviians present, we finally prevailed over the Raffles team! Way to go KE!
Having lost one set and won one set, it was thus crucial that KE won the third set so as to beat Raffles altogether. We fielded the Mauritian trio, Kevin, Hansley and Yannick. The Mauritian trio was rumoured to be the strongest of all the KE Sepak teams. It was obvious that anxiety and stress pressed hard on the players. The matches of this set were by far the tightest of all played so far. Scores of the two opposing teams were most of the time not more than two points apart. The second match pumped up the excitement level of KE supporters as the KE team led the first half of the match. Even though Raffles later caught up, it was clear that their players were getting more nervous. And we noticed that the Raffles players kept swiping the floor time and again! XD.
The last match of the third set was the most exhilarating one of the whole day. As soon as KE scored the 15th point, the hall erupted into thunderous cheers and applause from the KE supporters and non-players. King Edward VII Hall had beaten the Raffles team! Terence did some victorious jumps of joy, supporters screamed and players crowded around the heroes of the hour.
KE vs Temasek
Traces of the joy of winning were still felt among KE players as the match against Temasek hall kicked off in the afternoon. The first set consisted of very fast-paced matches, the KE players much more excited and motivated than before. Nevertheless, we knew beforehand that Temasek was going to be much tougher to beat than Raffles. Raffles players were mostly of the same level as KE’s, but Temasek’s skills were said to be better than KE’s. And the TH teams against KE’s trios were indeed strong ones. Despite our best efforts, KE was overpowered by the TH team all the way. Temasek won the first set, but there is no doubt that KE team fought well and hard, especially the Mauritian trio. Good job everyone! We believed in you all the way, and will keep on believing in you.
KE vs Eusoff
By then, KE had reached the Semi-finals. Our last match was against the mighty Eusoff Hall. The day had been long and tiring, and tiredness was etched on the faces of many of the players and supporters. Yet Terence and Yuan Yan, the KE sepak takraw captain, urged the players to keep their heads high and to believe that they could beat Eusoff. ‘Eusoff didn’t see us play before; let’s give them a nasty surprise’, said Terence. On KE’s side, the matches were played in a much relaxed, playful and fun atmosphere. Despite Eusoff having an advantage with taller players on their teams, KE managed to pull out some nice tricks and gave the EH teams quite some difficult and stressful times. Even though Eusoff won all the matches, we are still proud of our KE Sepak team!
KE is the best!
On the whole, KE did put up a good fight against all the three halls. The Sepak captain, Yuan Yan, commented afterwards that his team surpassed his expectations in terms of performance and that he is very satisfied with what they have achieved.
Some of the major faults in the KE team might have been a lack of control of the ball, as well as a lack of coordination among the three players sometimes. But this IHG sepak competition also brought the strengths of all the players to light: Ng Wuhong’s impressive jumps, Xing Hua’s striking air-kicks, Yan Hua’s remarkable head shots, Kevin’s, Hansley’s and Yannick’s teamwork… KE has proved that it indeed has the potential to win. We just need to believe in it more.
The Sepak takraw matches received a reasonable number of supporters from KE, sometimes more than the opposing hall, as was the case with Temasek. But, players, whatever the number of supporters, believe in yourself and your own potential.
Note: Sorry for the blurry photos, Sepak players. My camera is not a professional one. 
- Sharon Lynn
Add comment January 7, 2007
Saturday, 6 Jan 2007. This was the occasion for KE7’s Touch Rugby teams to show us whether all these weeks of training were worthwhile. Watching them play, I could see that they gave the best they could, but in the end they didn’t make it to the top three. Junzhe commented, “The bonding among the players is very good but other halls still got better players.” Had all these trainings been useless? Yet the physical aptitude of our players seemed to match those from the other halls. What did the KE7 Touch Rugby teams lack then? One of our supporters may have put his finger on the problem during one of the matches which the girls’ team was playing: “Why the girls keep rushing in [into the wall of players blocking the way]?” So perhaps this is what was standing between the team and more victories… lack of strategy.
Comments: 1 WIN, 3 LOSSES and 1 TIE. Just a little bit more to make it to the top 3. I heard that during one of the first matches, the referee made a mistake which cost the team dearly. This had brought the team spirit down. If this is really the case then it is a shame to have this kind of thing messing up the competition. Nevertheless what Junzhe said was true. Our touch rugby players were very bonded as a team and looked very care-free and relaxed. Maybe they just need a little more support from the hall…yes… I could count the number of supporters on my fingers.