"The Kashif Shuja Column".....
| UCSC Men's 'A' Lost in Final Match, But ....... |
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| Written by Michael C.S. TAN |
| Wednesday, 12 May 2010 10:27 |
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It was the moment of truth during the NSL Men's A final match week. Fate conspired that all the teams which were still in the running, congregated at SCC's Padang venue. With SCC Team 1 already confirmed as the 2010 NSL A-grade Champs (unassailable 29 pts), it was left to UCSC (23 pts), Tanglin Club (23 pts) and Padang Squashers (22 pts) to battle for the 2nd and 3rd spots and valuable points for those eyeing also the overall Club of the Year (COY) title. UCSC took on the 2010 Champs (SCC1) while Tanglin Club took on surprise contenders, Padang Squashers who made a late surge in their last few matches. This writer had only a pair of eyes (after Lasik) to report on proceedings and will do his best to justify the excitement and tension of the evening. In Court 1, SCC1's and UCSC's respective No. 3s got the ball 'nicking'. Nigel Koh, the current Singapore national runner-up was up against our own Phil Mockridge. Phil displayed his usual determination and tenacity, playing disciplined squash and while the individual scores were close in a couple of the sets, it was quite clear that Nigel, fresh from his exposure at the Asian Seniors Championship in Chennai (India), was by far the superior player. At times almost moving Phil around at will, Nigel played fluid squash and was never really under pressure and romped home a 3-0 winner. In the other court, Tim Soh of Padang Squashers, also just fresh from invaluable exposure in Chennai, took on Tanglin Club's former NZ junior international, Shane Hagan and both proceeded to entertain spectators to spectacular attritional squash. This match was still hardly mid-way through when Phil's match had ended. This pair of journalistic eyes then doubled as the referee's and marker's for the crucial tie between SCC1 and UCSC's respective No. 2s. It was a mouth-watering prospect with SCC's stylish national player, Vivian Rhamanan against UCSC's Malaysian-junior international, Darren Subramaniam. The first two sets hardly prepared anyone for the titanic battle ahead when Vivian, with shots matching his flowing locks, made short work of Darren, romping home with the first 2 sets 11-6, 11-4. Darren, who has not been playing for a few weeks as he was preparing for his school exams, looked a pale shadow of his usual tenacious self. It was with fading hopes that UCSC supporters watched Darren trudge in for the 3rd and possibly, final set, against a confident Vivian. As the 3rd set wore on however, Darren began chipping away at Vivian's confidence, impossibly retrieving what appeared to be winners from Vivian's magic wand till errors began to increasingly creep into Vivian's previously inpeccable shot-making from the sheer effort in trying to put some shots out of Darren's seemingly endless reach. UCSC supporters' spirits were lifted when Darren pulled off a 11-8 3rd set win to stay in the match. But even then, it was with much apprehension when a weary looking Darren returned for the 4th set. How much more can he retrieve? Darren answered that.... Much, much more! There's simply no plausible answer for Darren's sheer tenacity in picking up great shot after great shot from Vivian and then returning them so fast that on a few occasions, Vivian was caught slow on the turn from these Darren-ricochets. Darren's pure desire to play good squash rather than winning squash, made the difference. If UCSC-eyes were Irish, we were all certainly smiling when Darren again snuck home with the 4th set by a narrow 11-9 to force a rubber. If readers thought that was close, they'll have to hang on to their seats for the rubber. To make it even more interesting, the 1st match between Tim Soh and Shae Hagan was still going on!!!! And incredibly, that tie had also gone into a rubber and the coincidences that developed along the way, were contributors for a recipe for an installment of "Increbible Tales" (pretty scary for this referee). The scores called out from both courts were almost mirror proceedings. "3-4", "4-4", "4-5", "5-5" from both courts almost simultaneously. Tanglin's and PS's tie ended just ahead at 15-13 to Padang Squashers. Rewinding back just a few minutes before that result and on this side of the battle zone, Vivian held match point at 10-8, only to see Darren hang on to force deuce. That deuce had all the ingredients to go down into science journals as a prime reason for a bypass surgery! During the seemingly never-ending deuce(s), Vivian held match-point advantage several times and each time, Darren defied SCC supporters' urgings to level the score. At one stage, SCC supporters howled at this referee for allowing only a let which they believed to be a stroke for their man. Understanding their inclinations, this referee is however, known to call it as he sees it and in jest, offered the unenviable task at a crucial stage, to a better qualified judge. Seeing no takers, the scoring continued for a while more till Darren finally penetrated the Vivian armor to hold match-points of his own (once, twice... who remembers or cares?). It was to UCSC's delight when Darren scored the winning point when Vivian failed to make a return off one of Darren's innumerable retrievals at 16-14. That win was crucial as it meant UCSC kept its nose ahead of Padang Squashers for the 3rd spot in the Men's A podium, after being briefly behind when Tim pulled off his win against Shane. It must be reported that Shane was seen making some spectacular dives (as always) to retrieve great shots from Tim. I gratefully took my leave shortly to send a drained but happy Darren, who had to rush back, study and rest for tomorrow's exam paper. Darren, we thank you for taking time off to fight for UCSC's honor. Then it was time for Super Darren to switch quietly from fighting UCSC-sian back to his alter-ego as a mild-mannered ACSC(I) student. He did however, change in the SCC changing room and not in a phone booth. Good luck for your school exams, Darren. Keep plugging away like you do in the squash court and we know you will be eventually be as successful!The rest of the night ended with similar scores. SCC1 and Tanglin Club finished 3-1 winners over UCSC and PS respectively but Darren's vital win kept UCSC in 3rd place in the premier league. Jonathan Cheu lost to Bryan Koh 1-3 and Marcus lost to the indomitable Udai Singh also by 1-3, after winning the first set and holding set-point at 11-10 in the 3rd. Well done lads and thank you for an evening of riveting squash from all four top clubs which will now do battle once again this Saturday afternoon (3-7pm - May 15th @ Kallang) for the traditional season-ending Championship Challenge. It'll be SCC1 vs. PS and Tanglin CLub vs. UCSC. Congratuations to SCC1 for being great hosts as always and for finishing Champs, Tanglin Club for being Runners-up, and Padang Squashers for the near heart-attack. UCSC Lives & Breathes Squash! |
| Last Updated on Thursday, 13 May 2010 18:51 |
