Athletes and supporters from the 6 halls took part in the march at the opening ceremony of the annual Inter-Hall Games this evening. The convening halls for this year are Temasek Hall and Kent Ridge Hall. They were the first to march in followed by a sizeable group of KEVIIans, led by our very own Sports Secretary, Dominic Chen. Clad in hall colours, the participants took the athletes’ oath which emphasized the true spirit of sportsmanship. Athletes from the 6 halls will compete in 16 sports over the next month in their search for victory and achievement. For the full schedule of IHG, click here.

The Opening ceremony was then followed by Athletics. Before the event started, Shahzad and Buddhi christened the track by running around it bearing our dazzling white KE flag. The other halls went into rounds of cheers, but KE was strangely quiet although Shahzad did try to stir things up. Frankly, we need more people like him and Amelia around to build up everyone’s spirits. And we need MORE people to come support! This goes especially to first years, who made up less than half of the crowd today.

First up was 4×100m (F). Our girls tried their best but fell behind the others in time, taking 6^th place. The guys had a closer race but also had the same result in the 4×100m (M).

There was more excitement during the 4×400m (F) race when the 3^rd runner, also the female captain, Mindy, caught up quickly with Raffles Hall. However, the lead over them proved inadequate in the end and Raffles’ 4^th runner caught up. Ma Rong gave such a strong start in the 4×400m (M), and was at 3^rd position when he handed the baton over to Colin. We cheered fiercely at the sight of a glimmer of hope! The other runners, Jun Cai (Male Captain) and Kumaran then secured the 5^th position for the event!

In the last event of the day, the medley, all hall supporters moved to the side of the track in order to give full out support to the runners. The medley consists of 100m (F), 100m (M), 200m (M), 400m (F), 800m (F) and 800m (M). There was no clear lead after the first 2×100m. For a while, we were at 4^th place ahead of Raffles and Sheares hall after Esther, the 400m runner, overtook Sheares. However, Raffles caught up and we were again at 5^th position.

We concluded the day with the same positions and results as last year. Athletics is not a strong sport in KE as our team of only one competitive track runner is pitted against other halls’ teams which are packed with experienced and well-trained runners. But fear not, as Road Relay enthusiast Terence Chua says, track running is just an appetizer and road relay is the “real thing”.

Jun Cai, the male captain, says that he is pleased as the timings are better than last year’s, especially the girls’. The runners have put in a lot of hard work up to this day and there is not much else he can ask for. When asked about the reason why KE fails to shine in this event, he says that although having good runners plays a part, training does make a lot of difference and our runners do not have enough expert guidance from seasoned runners. However, he will be passing on the baton to someone with enough training background and hopefully can train up the next team and achieve greater results next year.

Mindy, on the other hand, is awfully proud of her girls who showed exceedingly improved timings. She is confident that next year will bring better things with good future leaders whose personalities can light up Suntec City.

“Winning is not everything, but the effort to win is.” Overall, our hall took 6^th place. Looking ahead, there are 10 odd sports left to be played. And in each of them lies a chance of success, of advancement. This is just the beginning, it is the opening of IHG. Let us cheer our sportsmen on in the following matches! There are only so many occasions to use that red T-shirt!

Next up: Volleyball (M) on Thursday at SRC!

- Mi Chelle