It never rains, it pours .... While not quite struck by lightning in the same spot which has already happened to the 'A'nnihilators and 'C'onquerors just across the road at the Police Academy, the 'B'ombers were nevertheless, shot out of the sky just as it was cruising towards the Men's 'B' league title by the same team it had beaten by a countback during the first half.

Several factors conspired to handicap the 'B'ombers even before the battle-proper. The night before, Captain Leong Chye and Michael were discussing feverishly to put together a team for the encounter with New Pioneers. Needing only another countback win to seal the 'B' title, Leong Chye and Michael were making desperate calls to several 'B'ombers and 'Conquerors to fill positions. Jason Ho who was ordered to rest for Friday's inter-schools semi-finals, Daryle Teng indicated a small risk that he was exhausted from work and may not be in the right frame to play, Kwah Chee Hian was still overseas, Jon Soh was confined in-camp for NS exercises and Leong Chye had domestic issues to take care of. Turning to the 'C'onquerors, Ka Hoe was travelling to Penang, Ka Wai was ill, Brian Van Ginkel was overseas, Mark Wong was ill, Bobby was in Penang with Ka Hoe, Ben Sim had tuition.

With that joyful situation, Daryle Teng was advised he had to play regardless of form and Leong Chye gallantly offered to turn up despite a pressing domestic engagement but had to play the first tie and leave early.

Having only slept just 3 hours the night before (and not much more all week) and still had to be at work all day, Leong Chye had to face his first-half conqueror, lanky Rupert Jakes. Leong Chye didn't appear any worse for the wear when he matched Rupert stroke for stroke, point for point and even held game-point before grudgingly conceding Set #1 by a hard-fought 13-15. Set #2 followed much the same pattern till deuce when he lost that by 10-12. Sleep deprivation began to be more pronounced when he put up scant resistance in Set #3 to go down 4-11. No worries, Leong Chye. Under the circumstances, you did us proud.

Jon Cheu then entered the fray and was not expected to meet much resistance from NP's Patrick Mills. Jon had after all, accounted convincingly for Patrick's higher-graded club-mate in a recent A-grade match and then played a phenomenal match against an Indonesian national player (despite losing narrowly) just 2 evenings ago. But it was an off-colour Jonathan who faced an in-from Patrick which set the scene for a near upset. Starting Set #1 sluggishly, Jon appeared to play indifferently to allow Patrick an unexpectedly easy 11-6 win. Shaken from his stupor by that rude awakening, Jon injected a bit more urgency into Set #2 and it business as usual with a 11-6 win to tie the match at 1-1. Continuing with that streak, Jon comfortably outplayed Patrick 11-2 in the 3rd set but Patrick made a stunning comeback with some great backhand volley nicks from Jon's loose shots to take Set #4 11-8 to set up a tense rubber. The rubber was point-for-point until 3-3 but it wasn't until Patrick stalled at 5 points that Jon allowed the UCSC camp a huge sigh of relief, by wrapping up the tense tie by 11-5 in the rubber.

Before Jon's match was finally over however, Daryle Teng had stepped into the adjacent court to face another tricky veteran - NP's Yeo Kiang Bee, a stroke maestro. It was a strange encounter between the two stroke-masters, each taking turns at racking up runs of 3-4 winners before allowing the other to take over. The result was 3-0 in favour of the NP master but that scoreline belies the closer individual sets which were 15-13, 11-8, 11-9 in favor of NP's Yeo.

Having already secured the evening's battle for honours, courtesy of the 2 sets earned by Patrick Mills, it was left to veteran, Michael Tan, to make the result more respectable. Michael faced his conqueror from the 2009 season, Tan Wern Sern and in the very same court. Michael had lost that encounter meekly by 0-3. There was plenty of brotherly love throughout the whole match as both players poked fun sportingly at each other. It was in that frame of mind that Michael 'laughed' his way to an unexpected lead by two ties, through 11-7 and 13-11 scorelines. It's been a while since Michael extended himself with rallies and disciplined shots interspered with some accurate shot-making against a deceptively quick Wern Sern. During last season's ecnounter, Wern Sern was aware of Michael's high-risk shot-making inclination and constantly tempted Michael with deliberate loose lobs which Michael returned into the tin. The sly NP player tried the same tactic again but found that Michael more often pushed the loose lobs into the back courts with tight drives. However, the age gap began to be telling and a clearly tiring Michael conceded Sets #3 and 4 by 5-11 and 6-11 to set up a rubber. It looked all over as Michael re-entered the court with slumped shoulders but lo and behold, there was some reserve left and it was suddenly a game of surprising attrition, point-for-point until 9-9. Not able to make it to a drop shot to allow the NP player first to 10, Michael made a fatal error in electing not to lunge for a drive down the left side when he bumped into his NP opponent and chose to ask for a 'let' instead. The ball was judged having passed Michael and deemed irretrievable and despite appeals from a frustrated Michael (only for a short while), it was game, set and match to NP. Wern Sern was a truly deserving winner for his dogged retrievals through the match of some excellent shots from Michael and his stamina and age were the difference.

It was soon laughter all over again outside of the courts as both teams sportingly thanked each other for a match-up played in the best spirit.

There'll be a NSL break next week as our national team head for the Asian Seniors competition and then UCSC has a bye the following week before resuming battle and this time, a crucial do-or-die match against fellow title contenders, SAFRA, at their homegound in Toa Payoh on May 13th.

UCSC Lives & breathes Squash!

Following the losses of the UCSC 'A'nnihilators and 'C'onquerors at the hands (or long arms) of the law-enforcers, it was welcome news that the 'F'hantoms were still delivering the goods for UCSC on the same evening against Vic & Jaz Team 2, even as the 'C'-squad endured its first loss of the season. And the 'D'estroyers had earlier on Tuesday, delivered good news with a well-deserved hard-fought 2-2 count-back win over East Wing, both fighting for 2nd place in their group. We have no real details on the D encounter but read on for details on the F match.

Captain Dave Phua wrote:

This week, it was another super performance from an under-strength team with Jeremy Goh moving up to the No.1 spot, Warren Seow at No. 2, Darryl Tan at No. 3 and Captain Marvel, Dave Phua, at No.4.

The 'F'hantoms had to do without Ben Chan, who was participating in the Malaysian Circuit (Penang leg). Brian Chang was overseas, expanding his new business venture (GPS, for those curious) and Ming Hao was caught up at the last minute at the office.

1) Jeremy won 3-2 (he may have played the same opponent last season and lost 0-3 then. It was sweet revenge from a hard-fought encounter).

2) Warren struggled to get used to the court surface condition, mastered it and then went on to easily win 3-0.

3) Darryl Tan played a slow and steady game to stroll to a comfortable, controlled 3-0 win, pressurising his opponent with short hard drives.

4) Dave Phua played a simple game against an inexperienced player but allowed one set to slip away before triumphing 3-1

For the record, let it be known that the 'F'hantoms have won 29 out of 30 ties played. It's almost embarrassing! But do take note of the UCSC Men's A and C team results and keep thumping the opponents.

Special thanks to Lau Chee Lok, who rushed down to support his team-mates and also Linda and Eddie for the always reliable cheer-team support.

UCSC (truly) Lives & Breathes Squash!

Whoever quipped that lightning never strikes twice in the same spot, clearly has never played squash in his/her life.

Right after the UCSC'A'nnihilators got annihilated at the Police Academy by the law-enforcers on Tuesday evening, the UCSC 'C'onquerors walked into a similar 'ambush' on Wednesday evening at the same location.

Entering the evening's match-up with Police (PSA) in a lofty position at the top of the A-grade table with 21 points and PSA at 6th with just 9 points, the 'A'nnihilators were still wary of the law-enforcers because of the recent additions to their squad in the form of two of Indonesia's national players. Surprisingly, the two were registered as A2s at #3 and #4 and below PSA's James Hill. While James is a good player and a decent A2, the two Indonesians were clearly better and one suspects, should both be A1s with the #4 having beaten Marcus at Kallang by 3-1 in a recent friendly match.