Pubz Comm Reporter: Siva Subramaniam

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KE 4-1 EH

Last night, history was made as the KE 7 Men’s squash team defended their championship by demolishing EH 4-1 and winning the Gold medal for the second year running. To double KE’s euphoria, the KE 7 Women’s squash team also won Gold minutes before with their hard-fought upset of Squash heavyweights KR.

2 more Golds in the bag for KE 7!

After the heart-stopping excitement of the girls’ final, the guys’ final was comparatively a very dull affair. Having beaten Eusoff in the first preliminary round 3-2, our boys were confident of doing it again. The KE crowd practically flooded the stands, with special appearances by Hall Master Prof Ho and GH block RF Mr Jenson Goh, amongst others. The seemingly non-existent Eusoff crowd amounted to a grand total of 10 or less and we suspect these were members of the video and photo committees. It was almost as if EH did not believe they could win and told their supporters not to bother coming down.

Sadly for Eusoff, they were right.

In the first match, Denis from KE played an IVP player, Homan from EH. Despite Denis’ superb placement of his shots and talent for making tough returns, he was overpowered and outrun by his skillful adversary. After losing the first set 3-9, he fought bravely in the 2^nd set, almost taking control of the set but eventually lost it 5-9. Towards the end of the 2^nd set it became obvious that Denis was injured. He was limping from an ankle injury and grimaced every so often from a strained back. Regardless of his pain, he did not show signs of giving up and pushed on with, rather literally, his best foot forward. Alas he lost the 3^rd set 1-9. There was thunderous applause for Denis as he came off the court with a pained expression on his face- the hall was proud of him.

Next up was an IVP all-star face-off between KE captain Sean (incidentally also the IVP squad captain) and EH’s Navin (coincidentally the IVP squad vice-captain). The two players took to the courts to warm up, both wearing their IVP squash jackets. After some vigorous warm-ups they players came out of the court sweating profusely, took off their jackets and went back in to start the match. It was a dazzling display of Squash and the supporters ‘oooh’ed and ‘ahhh’ed along with the brilliant shots and saves made by both players. Though the rallies were long and entertaining, it was obvious that Sean had the upper hand. He won almost every point in the match, only losing serve once or twice by service faults. Sean won the first two sets easily 9-0, 9-0. In the 3^rd one, Navin got his big break and managed to get one point off Sean! This, to be honest was an amazing feat, even though it was only because of an unforced error. The EH crowd cheered in jubilation. Subsequently Sean finished the game off, winning 9-0, 9-0, 9-1.

The 3^rd and 4^th matches were played concurrently in 2 courts but both were similar in that they were one-sided. Kwan Rong had little trouble against Seng Tuck from EH, beating him 9-0, 9-3, 9-0. Although his match started slightly later, Raymond finished first. He conquered his opponent Chung Hung by a domineering margin of 9-0, 9-1, 9-1.

This meant that we had won the match 3-1. KE had won the IHG Gold! Christopher from KE played the final (inconsequential) match against Ying Shuo from EH. There was no pressure on either of them and hence they both played their natural game. Although Ying Shuo did not give in easily, Chris won over the crowd and his opponent with his determination and positive attitude. The match went to KE 9-4, 9-4, 9-1. That match rounded up this year’s Squash IHG with a 4-1 win against EH in the finals, even bettering our previous showing against them in the prelims (which we won 3-2).

Our Squash team has lived up to the hall’s expectations and their own by bringing the championship back for a second year. Hopefully this title gets comfortable and remains with KE for years to come.

Victory has indeed crowned the brave. Cheers to KE Squash!

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GOLD for KE!