Tennis (M)
KE vs TH - 3 : 2

* * *

Wednesday night saw KE 7 tennis guys in the 2007 IHG semi-finals. We were up against the formidable Temasek Hall which had recently put away Sheares Hall (3-2) and come close to defeating competition-favourites KR (2-3). Temasek had a strong team and the odds were stacked against us. Thus, the outcome of the match-up depended largely on our strategy and our lineup.

A well thought-out and carefully planned game strategy gave us the best lineup we could have asked for and set the stage for an upset by the KE boys. Still, Temasek had a balanced team, laden with experienced players, and we would still have to play out of our skins to conquer them.

1st Singles
Our first warrior, Sandiip, went into battle against Zhi Hao - a hard-hitter with stylish strokes. The match got underway and Sandiip, who exudes his own brand of understated style, was unfazed by the flair and intensity of Zhi Hao’s game. He went up 2-0. Sandiip played an effective game by simply putting Zhi Hao’s hard shots back over the net and mixing up the play with some lobs and drop-shots. This laid-back style of play visibly frustrated the opponent who made more and more unforced errors as a result. Eventually, the Temasek player was so upset over a controversial line-call that he approached the conveners and demanded a linesman for the match. Sandiip remained cool and used this time to take a breather. The linesman arrived, but did little in the way of preventing Sandiip from comfortably taking the first set 6-3.

Early in the second set, the Temasek player Zhi Hao injured his knee and required medical attention, provided by some of KE’s year 4 Medics. After a bit of rest and some ‘magic spray’, Zhi Hao was on his feet again. Sandiip continued his unhurried defeat of Zhi Hao and led the 2nd set 5-3. In the crucial, possibly match-winning game, Sandiip was down 30-40 when he suddenly fell to the ground clutching his ankle. Zhi Hao offered his ‘magic spray’, to no avail. The same year 4 medics from KE (Nesa, Raghav, Lydia) confirmed the absence of any severe injury and later bandaged Sandiip’s ankle up. He was still in pain, but needed to win one more game to win the match. Zhi Hao cleverly played drop-shots, knowing that Sandiip couldn’t run to get them. Sandiip however, overcame the pain and ran his heart out- taking the last game and the match 6-3, 6-4. KE supports erupted in applause for their champion!

2nd Singles
The 2nd singles saw Junde up against a stronger and more experienced Temasek captain, Guo An. Junde managed to take 2 games in the first set. In the second set, Junde played a phenomenal game which put him at a 5-3 advantage. At this point, the Temasek captain was taken aback and quickly tried to make amends. Temasek won the next four games to win the match 6-2, 7-5. Kudos to Junde for his valiant efforts in the face of a seemingly undefeatable adversary.

1st Doubles
The 1st doubles was played by our undefeated Vietnamese duo of Vu and Khoi. The boys from Vietnam have built themselves a reputation of solid tennis and dependable coordination. Today they were up against the stronger of the Temasek doubles, Ben and Rong Sheng. The teams were equally matched throughout the first set and the score came to 6-6 after which a nailbiting tiebreaker ensued. Knowing that the stakes were high, both pairs played cautious strokes and lost alternate points to unforced errors. The tiebreak was also nerve-rackingly close and came to a draw at 5-5. Vu and Khoi remained cool and won the next 2 points by sheer mental strength to take the set 7-6 (7-5)! Temasek was fazed by the close loss of the first set and put up little resistance in the second set. Vu and Khoi put them away 6-2, with 2 match-points in hand.

2nd Doubles
The 2nd doubles saw KE’s Abhinav and Siva up against Temasekians De Ren and Ivan. The pairs were not far apart in terms of skills, but perhaps in match experience. Siva and Abhinav got off to a bad start and found themselves facing a 0-5 deficit. At this point they were delivered some good news – that the Vietnamese doubles was one set up. Overcoming their nerves, Abhi and Siva hit less unforced errors, and won one game after battling 4 deuce points. Sensing that they were getting into their groove, Temasek quickly finished off the set to make it 6-1. In the second set our boys played better, with more coordination and even hit a couple impressive winners. They were down 2-1, down 3-2, 4-2, 5-3 and eventually were edged out 6-3. The players felt they didn’t bring their best game and could have fought back after the first set. Nonetheless, they took home the valuable match experience.

3rd Singles
Now, at 2-2… it all came down to our 3rd Singles. Whichever team won would advance to the finals. Thankfully, we had fielded the star of our team and IVP Tennis veteran Raghav ‘Rags’ in 3rd singles. Still, he was up against Zheng Zhang, another noteworthy IVP player from Temasek. Initially Rags was distracted by the 1st doubles which was being played on the adjacent court. He lost 2 games as he was distracted and concerned whether our Vietnamese boys were winning. Once they had secured a win, Rags was at ease. With precise and powerful shots, awe-inducing serves and killer volleys Rags blew Temasek away. He easily took the first set 6-2. In the second set, Zheng Zhang still had no answer for Rags’ superior brand of tennis. Rags gave an outstanding performance - his best in this IHG so far. He convincingly took out Zheng Zhang and Temasek 6-2, 6-1. The team rushed onto court and the KE crowd burst into ecstatic applause.

With nerves of steel and commendable tennis all around, KE 7 defeated Temasek 3-2 and we’re now on our way to the IHG Tennis Finals! History has been made by our tennis guys this year- advancing to the hall’s first sports finals in recent years! In the finals, we are set to face Eusoff Hall, who will be eager to take their revenge for beating them in the prelims. The finals will be played at the SRC on Tuesday night (6th Feb ’07) and we hope to see you there! As proven by our team time and again – impossible is truly nothing.

- Siva Subramaniam
Tennis (M) Captain

Congratulations to the tennis team on making it to finals and proving that KE7 is not an opponent to be taken lightly! Well done guys - we are proud of you!

Previous matches this IHG season:
Tennis (M) Prelims KE vs EH
Tennis (M) Prelims KE vs RH