small ball, BIG wins!

The game started off, not with a splash this time round, but with a little ping pong ball.

Haha okay lets get down proper. Our male singles started off good, defeating their opponents from hall 9 with a score of 3-2.

Zhiyang ever ready to hit the ball

Our mixed doubles did our hall proud by winning 3 straight sets. With nice service from Gary, and nice smashes by Nellie, surely it was an easy win.

Nelly and Gary. Mixed doubles.

Our female singles Liyen and Liying (no they are not sisters) lost their first set by deuce 12-10. They managed to win the second set at 11-9, but lost the last 2 sets. The game was very close. Great effort and fighting spirit there girls!

Liyen and Liying.

Our female singles did us proud once again, with Louisa winning 3-0. She managed to block her opponents smashes, gaining points for the team. Steady bom pi pi!

Even though our male doubles had a walkover, Hall 4 managed to win 4-1 overall against Hall 9 in the quarter finals.

Continue to watch this space for hot news about our table tennis girls and guys!

big splash

A warm welcome to the readers of this blog. It's been a while since the last update, since the events are petering out for our hall, most unfortunately, but fret not, here's some entertainment at last.

The weather clearly not buying into the warm welcome theme.

So there was some rain occasionally, but nothing could dampen the spirits of our very own Sports Secretary, Lee Hsi En, whose abundance of energy is always apparent.

The eager timekeeper.

The casual reader would have expected an easy victory over the Ohmers with the absence of some swimmers, but fat hope! We had more than enough swimmers to field a competitive team!

The girls' team.

The girls took a respectable 8th in the freestyle event, a commendable achievement despite the lack of match fitness and experience.

The guys' team. (Stop holding your breath, Mark) 

Unfortunately, the guys did not manage to qualify for the subsequent rounds of their respective events, but to quote Cantona in Nike's Joga Bonito ads, there was "big heart".

Hall 4's medley team.

The medley team earned themselves an early shower when they were DQed due to a fault kick following the plunge by our butterfly-stroke swimmer. No problems though, everyone was all smiles at the end and the swimming team departed the pool with chins up and heads held high.

Aside to the team: the late-night visits to ah fang may resume! (:

Wasted!

IHG Squash has finally started on 29th december.

Hall 4 faced Hall 9 (we were rivals last year for quarters last year) for our 1st round of IHG Squash.

Prof Yap and Mother Yap, being very nice, agreed to play for Hall 4. Both of them beat their opponents almost effortlessly. Teo Zhi Ye, the Squash Team Manager, having little experience in competitive squash, lost to a relatively good player. Our 2nd female player, Lee Shu Ying, failed to make a comeback for hall 4 after losing to her opponent. Tan Wei Song (the last minute player) , with good hall 4 spirit, lost by a slight margin to his opponent in the last match of the day. Prof Yap hitting the ball to the right angle.



Mother Yap displaying powerful squash strokes



The godly squash pair



you can tell zhi ye really played with all his life


Shu Ying, facing a tough opponent.

Wei Song, who lost by a slight margin.

Hall 4 Spirit. *FOR FRIENDSHIP* !

The End of a Remarkable Journey...

It was a crucial match for the Hall4 male volleyballers this evening..as winning the match will guarantee the hall a place in the semi-finals. After many training sessions and hard fought games in the preliminary rounds..our hall has indeed come a long way to be able to advance to this stage of the tournament. We were definitely one of the underdogs in the competition, with only a couple of experienced players and most of the time insufficient players for the training sessions, it is amazing that we got this far, but not without the drive and determination set against out opponents.

This time round, we were up against Hall7..a tough team to beat. Having lost to them during a friendly match, our hall was determined to savage some lost pride n confidence during the game. However, we knew it wasn't easy. We played our Quarter-Finals match at Hall2, and began the first set on the wrong foot, unnecessary errors were made coupled with a few bad receptions, we literally caused our own downfall. Even though we began to catch up during the later part of the set, it was too late. We tried to make it up in the second set, however, we just couldn't perform up to expectations, furthermore, Team Seven is no doubt a better team. We were edged out in the second set, hence, missing out the chance to be in the top 4.




At the end of the day, it's all about participation, teamwork n having fun. We may have lost the game, but we have gained a valuable and memorable experience from the competition. Well done Hall 4 Volleyballers for all the effort and energy put into the games..may we soar to greater heights in the next IHG!

64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight square

Yes, that's International Chess for you. International Chess originated in India in the 6th Century AD. This is a game for 2 people, each of whom moves his 16 pieces across the board with the aim of checkmating the opponent's king. The basic rules seem easy, but the subtlety of advanced play is difficult to master. Kudos to our players for having the courage to represent our hall in this game!

Another interesting point to note is that until recently, men dominated the chess world - the majority of good chess players were (and still are) men. This aspect of chess is evident in the team representing our hall!

Photos:

Kong Hooi during one of his games.


Bing Bing concentrating.







Making the wisest move...



Chin Keat thinking hard.


Making the careful move..


Wilson against his opponent.


Yew Chong enjoying himself!





Although we did not manage to make it to the next round, it was definite that our players experienced much fun and challenge in the games with opponents of their level as well as those of higher standards. Well done for the good sportsmanship!

Chinese Chess

4 days, 8 rounds. That's what it will take for a team to reach the finals. Our team managed to win all 7 qualifying rounds and reached semi.

Andrew after winning his first game

Our score for the qualifying rounds

Having reached semi, hall 4 now have to win hall 13 to get a place in the finals.

Hall 4 against Hall 13

Meeting expectations, our team managed to win hall 13, with a score of 4:1 and secured a place in the finals against hall 9, the defending champion. Pleased that they have made it into the finals, our players joked bout conceding as hall 9 has very strong players. Of course, they decided to fight on for the champ.

And this is when the action started getting more tense. Because any mistake made can just mean a defeat, the games went more slowly as compared to those previously played.

Hall 4 against Hall 9

Each player focused all, if not most of their mind and heart in the game, hoping to secure a point for the team and ultimately, become the winning team of ihg c chess. It was about 1 hour before we see a pair finished a game.

No good...0:1 for hall 4. But our strongest players are still in game so there is still hope for hall 4. Next up, our c chess captain emerged winner in his game. That's 1:1 for hall 4. Not long after, another pair ended. 1:2 for hall4. Now the atmosphere got tense as it was a close fight for the last 2 games. To win, hall 4 have to win the last 2 matches.

Our hall players and supporters observing one of the two remaining games

The last 2 games finished with draws. The end result, hall 4 got second for c chess with a marginal score for the finals of 2:3. Out of the 5 games for finals, we managed to win 1 and drawed 2.

But...what do we have here? Second for c chess and a medal for hall 4. Great job guys! And a special mention to our captain Kaifa, who won all his games in this competition.

Kaifa and the rec secs

Photos of our players in-game:

Though not playing in the finals, some of our players decided to engage in an inter-block chess game with Isabelle as the judge

And finally, a team photo

boggle

Boggle started on a cheery morning, as the Hall 4 team consisting of Vanessa, QiaoYun, Wendy, Isaac, Praga and Sheryl made their way down to Hall 8 for the game. It was a challenging day ahead as everyone had to play up to 7 games, facing up against players as random as the alphabets could be.

In silence and deep thought, Wendy searching for the next word.

YewHan the dedicated umpire.

The many hall players were of differing standards, one even beating QiaoYun by as much as 109 points, leaving everyone truly impressed by the high level of play.

Kudos to Vanessa who won a game against Hall 1, while the rest of the team were defeated, marking the exit of Hall 4 in this intellectual game of Boggle.