(Written by Tyrone Almeida - Edited by Mike Tan)

With the strengthening friendship between UCSC and Police, stemming from recent events such as the inaugural annual friendly held late last year and the participation of the Police team in the recently concluded Thomson CSC Squash Invitational, this contest was looked forward to in terms of the close friendship and the talent in both teams. This Men's C encounter took place at Police's home courts at the Thomson Police Academy.

The respective No. 1's started proceedings with PSA's supremely fit and hard-hitting Bal Kumar up against UCSC newbie, Nishan Ravi Nekoo. Bal, while hitting hard, found it difficult to cope with the wall-hugging shots which Nishan clinically executed. The young UCSCsian was never in any trouble and so supremely confident that in many clear let situations, he opted not to appeal and responded by scoring winners at will in the next few rallies. Nothing should be taken away from the game Police player, but the final scoreline read comfortably 11-3, 11-5, 11-8 in favour of Nishan. A great start to Nishan's "squash career" with UCSC.

The second tie featured the No. 3's, Wan Hoden vs. Tyrone Almeida. Having played Hoden in several social matches in recent months, Tyrone felt he had a good measure of what was required of him and went into battle confidently. Unfortunately, Tyrone (in his own words) "once again showed his inconsistent mercurial side" as he simply appeared out of his element with mishits, tinned shots and loose returns. Hoden, sensing the opportunity, pressed home the attack with a fast and furious pace and except for the second set which Tyrone managed to edge home with, Hoden raced through the match to a well deserved 3-1 victory.

While Tyrone was slugging it out with Hoden, the teams' respective No. 2's had also commenced their match in another court. PSA's Hoe Kim Seng was up against UCSC's returning son, Daryl Kam. It looked to be "another day at the office" for Daryl when he quickly got down to business in easily wrapping up the first two sets by 11-7, 11-6. Inexplicably however, Daryl took his foot off the pedal and switched to trading lobs and boasts with his much older and more experienced opponent and gave away the next two sets 8-11, 6-11. In the crucial rubber, Daryl persisted with the slow pace but managed to get it altogether this time and took the final set easily by 11-3 to win 3-2 overall. A heart-stopper! This was Daryl's second consecutive 5-setter in the NSL, having won by the same margin last week when supporting the 'B'ombers, a good way to acclimatise to the league atmosphere after a 4-year hiatus. Welcome home, Daryl!

With UCSC leading 2 matches to 1, all eyes were on the final match of the evening featuring the teams' No. 4's, D-grade feeder, Dinesh Kumar vs. UCSC poster-boy, Eddie Oh. Dinesh, as some may recall, is the super-fit gurkha who ran down UCSC's Leong Chye in a marathon match in the recently-concluded Thomson CSC Invitational and nearly did the same to UCSC veteran, Michael Tan, in the next Thomson match. After a shaky opening set in which he conceded 8-11 to Dinesh, Eddie redeemed himself temporarily in the second with some hard and patient rallies to level the sets won with a 11-7 win. Not unexpectedly, the 2nd set's long rallies took their toll on Eddie's chiselled body with the super-fit Gurkha still full of running. Errors started creeping into Eddie's game which allowed Dinesh to finish the next 2 sets 11-7, 11-3 for a deserving 3-1 victory for the Police young man.

With match and set scores identical (0-3, 2-3, 3-1, 3-1), scoring action shifted from the courts to the score-sheets with both captains feverishly counting the points for each match before the points emerged a dead-heat at 137 points a-piece. With everyone voicing disbelief, score-sheets and counting responsibilities changed hands and the scoring 'rallies' continued several times but the points stayed stubbornly at 137 a-piece. With counters gasping and fact established, the order of the day and very fairly so, was for the teams to share the spoils with 2.5 points each to add to their league tabulation. The friendship between these two teams could not be any closer!

UCSC's appreciation to our Police friends and hosts who are, as always, the perfect sportsmen and gentlemen both on and off the courts.

While having hoped for a convincing win to start the 2012 campaign with, the UCSC 'C'onquerors are still pleased to have avoided a near loss. It is only the first match however and with the team only just warming up to the task, the 'C'onqueror epithet can still be justified as the season progresses.

UCSC Lives & Breathes Squash!