This was the match of the season (so far) for the UCSC 'A'nnihilators .....

The hustling was all done by UCSC as the team caused maximal damage to the title hopes of one of the pre-season favorites, SCC2.

Before the match, UCSC was placed second in the 'A' table with a mere 2-point advantage over the evening's opponents. The 'A'nnihilators had a simple game plan - W I N !
First Match: Marcus Phua vs. Cheong Kah Wah
This was a highly-anticipated match, pitting the recently-crowned Singapore national champion vs. the reigning Men's A Individual champion, Marcus Phua vs. 16-year old top Malaysian Junior, Cheong Kah Wah. Supporters from both camps were excitedly looking forward to a battle royale. UCSC Die-hards, Uncle Bobby and Uncle Eddie Chan, both arrived early to ensure they got ringside seats and not miss anything.

It was a close affair throughout the first set with both players intensely focused and determined to give nothing away to the other. It was only late in that first set when Marcus upped his game to squirrel away the set by 11-9. Sadly, Kah Wah's niggling ankle injury slowed him from the second set onwards. While sympathetic, Marcus nevertheless was duty-bound to do his best for UCSC and capitalised on the situation to control the match and romped home in the next two sets to win the tie 3-0. It was a pity the match did not quite live up to its billing and was a little anti-climatic due to Kah Wah's injury, but we are sure these two will have many more fierce battles in the future and many of us will be eagerly awaiting these. First blood to UCSC.

Second Match: Darren Subramaniam vs. Justin Ang
The second match witnessed the return of Darren Subramaniam who had been out of action during UCSC's last two outings because of an ankle injury (do these happen only to Malaysian juniors?). Darren was facing Singapore national player, Justin Ang, and relishing the challenge. Darren started the first set on a roll as fantastic winners simply rolled off his magic wand. However, it was evident that Darren was conscious of the niggling (yes, sorry.... same description) ankle injury and was just that little bit more tentative and the mistakes crept in during the middle of that set. Darren started to encounter stiff resistance from Justin. The errors from Darren must have rubbed off on Justin as it was then the latter's turn to make a couple of crucial ones towards the end to surrender the first set. The second game was a repeat in sequence as Darren initially pulled away to hold game-point at 10-7. Those errors then returned and allowed Justin to close the gap to 9-10. With a little help from Lady Luck, Darren hit a fortuitous shot off his racket frame from a very tight Justin-drive to find himself 2-0 in the lead. The third set was easy for Darren as Justin repeatedly made errors and had to watch Darren wrap up the tie 3-0.   2-0 to UCSC.

Third match: Phil Mockridge vs. Tan Zhi Rui
Phil Mockridge played up at No. 3 as Simon Yang was resting from a shoulder injury. Phil faced Tan Zhi Rui, a Singapore ex-national player. Even while recovering from a weekend episode of the flu, Phil stayed focused from the onset of his match and exhibited excellent squash throughout the tie. This forced Zhi Rui into numerous unforced errors which allowed Phil to stamp his authority. Although Zhi Rui made a late surge at the end of the third set, Phil was essentially untroubled and wrapped up the match 3-0...... and 3-0 to UCSC for a confirmed win.

Fourth match: Jason Ho vs. Jonathan Chan
'B'omber Jason Ho was called upon to take the role of an 'A'nnihilator for a 3rd week in a row ..... and how he rose to the occasion yet again. Matched up against SCC2's Jonathan Chan, Jason started the match with basic squash and upped the pace whenever possible. The quick pace forced Jonathan into repeated errors and Jason won the set comfortably by 11-6. Jason did not take his foot off the pedal in the second set. His SCC opponent attempted a change in tactics by opting to engage Jason in front court duels. Big mistake! Jason lives and breathes front-court squash and this was evident when he achieved a rare feat of a 11-0 annihilation of his opponent in an A-grade match. The SCC2 player made a fight of the match-up in the third set, played much tighter squash and managed to compete to 9-9. But alas for Jonathan, Jason with match-point at 10-9,  still had that little extra and 'chutzpah' to play an audacious winning drop-shot from the back of the court to wrap up game, set and match for a memorable and rarely achieved win over a team from the magnificent SCC stable.

All the UCSC 'A'nnihilators deserve praise for this outstanding victory .... And last but not least, a HUGE thanks to our gracious opponents and hosts, SCC, for their warm hospitality and wonderful sportsmanship as always.