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Home NSL Team News Men's A Team UCSC 'A'nnihilates New Pioneers
UCSC 'A'nnihilates New Pioneers PDF Print
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Written by Marcus Phua   
Friday, 16 April 2010 11:03
UCSC Men's 'A'nnihilators continues their march in their 'A' title quest, soundly defeating New Pioneers on Tuesday to register their second clean sweep. But road bumps lie ahead next week, in the form of Indonesian threats ......... But first, the New Pioneer match report.

Tie No. 1:  Marcus PHUA vs. Johari RAFDI
The first match of the evening saw Marcus Phua going up against veteran, Johari Rafdi. The head-to-head record going into this match was 2-0 in favour of the older player. However, it would be worthwhile to note that the last time they played against each other was about 3-4 years ago and Marcus is now the reigning Singapore national champion while the veteran is a further 3-4 years longer in the tooth. The match started off well for Johari and he looked to have turned back the clock with a couple of low cross-court drives which caught Marcus by surprise to take an early lead. However, Marcus soon gained control of the set and played some delightful winners to overtake Jo's earlier lead. The veteran did make a late surge in this first set but Marcus held Jo off to take the first set. The next two sets followed a fairly similar pattern. All credit to the game veteran but the younger national champ was just a little sharper in wrapping up the tie comfortably by 3-0.

Tie No. 2: Darren SUBRAMANIAM vs. Daniel DAHLMEIER
This match took place on the other court between speed-demon, Darren and lanky German-Chinese, Daniel. The first set between these two, was a long one. The set was a see-saw affair with both players fighting hard to grab a psychological advantage by taking the first set. Darren managed to sneak home by 15-13 after about 15 mins. The second set saw Daniel playing some brilliant squash, executing numerous delicate drop shots which even speedy Darren was not able to retrieve. Darren was caught on a number of occasions by Daniel's trickle-boast and was back-pedalling for most of the second set. However, Daniel could not maintain consistency and made some crucial mistakes eventually to allow Darren back into the set. The pressure appeared to increase on Daniel towards the end as he surrendered a huge lead to surrender narrowly by 9-11. With 2 sets in the bag, Darren kept up the pace in the third and managed to win the close encounter 3-0, a scoreline that belied the even exchanges.

Tie No. 3: Jonathan CHEU vs. NG Li Yong
'B'omber, Jonathan Cheu, was called up for the first time as Phil Mockridge moved up to No. 3 in place of an injured Simon Yang who was still struggling with a hamstring injury. The first set was relatively easy Jonathan as Li Yong was struggling to find his rhythm. The second set won the "Set of the Night" easily. The NP player found his touch and Li Yong started getting into his groove with some stupendous volley-drop winners which Jon simply could find reply. Li Yong raced to set-point at 10-7 before Jon mounted a tremendous comeback. Jon clawed back to 10-10 to force deuce before Li Yong hit yet another winner to hold set-point yet again for a 11-10 lead. In what was to be an epic rally, Li Yong tried his utmost 'bestest' to seal victory in the second on his fourth set-point, continuing to hit outrageous drop-shot winners. However, the 'never-say-die' Jon (probably had time to do so) kept retrieving those otherwise magnificent Li Yong 'specials' from left to right and from front to back (for those already giddy, I did mean all four corners). Jon's persistence eventually forced Li Yong into an unforced error to allow Jon to level the score. EPIC RALLY! Jon finally, and deservedly, won the epic second set by 15-13. By the third set, Li Yong was totally sapped and still reeling from his effort in the previous set and Jon mercilessly capitalised on the weak resistance in what proved to be the final set in this tie to romp home 3-0. Excellent value for money even if spectators had to pay to watch. Perhaps they may screen that on Channel 22 or Racquet Channel one day?

Tie No. 4: Phil MOCKRIDGE vs. Sean ANG
In the final tie of the evening at the No. 3 slot, Phil (who moved up in place of Simon Yang) faced ex-UCSC-sian, Sean Ang. Phil played tight squash throughout the match, forcing the younger Sean into committing unforced errors repeatedly. These two have clashed before and their past battles have been long and hard. But this time, a much-fitter (this time spelt with an 'i' rather than an 'a') Phil held the upper hand and cruised through the first two sets. Sean started a mini-revival in the third and cut down on errors. Sean fought well and hard to edge to set-point with a 10-8 lead. But our Phil, renowned for his determination and fighting spirit, held on to level the score at 10-10 and force deuce. It was most unfortunate to see Sean, who had done well to revive his own hopes in the third, make a costly error at this crucial juncture to hand Phil, match-point. Sean fought tenaciously to stay in the match but Phil managed to set up a rally and tucked away a winner to take game, set and match.

The UCSC A team stays on course in their title charge but face a crucial battle against a new-look Police side next week as the lawmen attempt to 'arrest' the 'A'nnihilators' progress at The Police Academy. The lawmen have introduced 2 new 'recruits' (Indonesian national players) into their S.W.A.T. (Squash Weapons And Tactics) squad. Next week's meeting promises to be an exciting affair and hopefully, loads of UCSC 'protestors' will turn up to support the 'A'nnihilators' unbeaten run this season.   STAY TUNED .......
Last Updated on Friday, 30 April 2010 19:13