Ping. Foos. Pool.
The sound of cheers awakened the halls of Taylors last week as the first ever pool, foosball and table tennis tournament commenced since last year. Competitors and supporters all joined together to support and take part in the tournament of a lifetime; some joined in for the fun while for others this was serious business.
Each tournament had two categories, singles and doubles.
The pool tournament was a fierce competition that resulted in quite a few unexpected outcomes. In pool it is very hard to judge who is going to win the game until the very last moment, making it all the more exhilarating and exciting to watch. The atmosphere during the pool matches was quite intense, the suspense of whether the ball went in, the unforced errors and stupid mistakes such as getting the white ball in, all play a part in whether you win or lose.
However there is always one competitor who stands out among the rest and for pool this was Aman Gill, his skills being apparent from the moment he astonished the crowd with an incredible and inconceivable spin that scored him a goal and left his opponent dumbfounded and awed. Clearly more determined and talented than everyone else, he played with such ease and even on his bad days he seemed to be unstoppable.
The results of the tournament were already expected with Aman emerging champion for both singles and doubles with his partner Maandip Gill. The competition was a great way of bringing the whole college together to celebrate the talent of the students, as well as encourage them to take part in friendly competition.
The foosball competition on the other hand, like real football was filled with enthusiastic cheers from the spectators. There were even those know-it-all spectators that shouted pieces of advice to the players like, “Hit the sides!” or “Make sure the last man is in the middle!” and like every sport orientated game there was the occasional swearing.
The competition consisted of two categories, singles and doubles. The player or team that has the most wins at the end of the competition determines the winner. Among all the players there, one stood out the most. Not because he was the fairest and tallest of them all but because he was the “Unbeaten One”.
Since the start of the competition, Muhammad Iryan Saiq stood strong as the undefeated player of the competition and not just in the singles category but also the doubles together with team mate, Kevin Yoong. He is the TCSH foosball champion. “Playing singles gives me more control over the ball and its less intense compared to playing doubles. But the main reason I entered the competition is because I love the game.” laughed Iryan as I had a chat with him. Armed with experience from previous competitions, Iryan used his experience to his advantage and it paid off.
Other players such as Leon Gan even performed certain rituals before prepping up for a game. Rituals which he keeps a secret. “Real football strategies don’t work here lah. You have like 6 things in the middle of the table. How to use strategies?” said Leon when asked whether real life football strategies actually work in foosball. Clearly not.
Once upon a time, British upper-class citizens would stack a row of books across a desk and then use two books to hit a golf ball back and forth across the barrier. Later, cigar box lids were used as paddles and wine corks as balls. The game in question underwent two name changes before emerging in 1901 as ‘ping pong’, and the rest is history.
The participants were numerous, and ranged from casual players to experienced professionals, all of whom hoped for a chance to demonstrate their skills and claim the title of champion. From the semi-finals, four players—Lee Kah Fai, Low Jian Min, Amirun and Yeap Chung Wye—emerged victorious to proceed to the quarter-finals. Applause erupted around the room as Low Jian Min defeated Lee Kah Fai 11-5; 11-8 and Amirun beat Yeap Chung Wye 11-3; 11-7. Both players proceeded to the finals.
On the 17th of March, the doubles tournament commenced. Due to the relatively small number of players, the three pairs that emerged from the qualifying round proceeded directly to Round Robin to determine the winners. Round Robin as well as the singles finals commenced on March 18. Aaron and Looi Chung Yi emerged as the victorious pair, followed by Lim Jeng Liang and Jimmy Lim in second place, and finally Jason Lim and Darryl Phoon in third place. In the singles finals, Low Jian Min defeated Amirun by winning three sets (11-8; 11-2; 11-7), losing only one set (9-11) to emerge as the champion.
Student Council members were generally satisfied with the tournament. “We have very good and experienced players joining the competition. They joined out of their own initiative and knew the rules well,” remarked Lim Peck Hwa who acted as referee for the singles tournament semi-finals and quarter-finals. “Many joined the event and supported it. Some people even made an effort to stay back and watch the matches!”
Sadly, the downside to the tournament was the rather lackluster attendance by supporters. Generally, this was attributed to the venue of the tournament, which was held mostly in a closed area (Delta Theatre) compared to the foosball and pool tournaments which were held in the open area outside the ECA office. Nevertheless, the event was widely regarded to be at least moderately successful.
After a tiring week, students were able to rejoice in their victory and take pride in being a part of such a competitive and exciting tournament. I would like to congratulate everyone who took part or helped organize this competition. Its success has been the collective effort of many Taylor’s students, so thank you and well done! The student body will look forward to the next round of games with anticipation. Bring on Ping.Foos.Pool 2011!
By THONG WAI CHEONG, TASHYA DE SILVA and BENJAMIN OH
Each tournament had two categories, singles and doubles.
The pool tournament was a fierce competition that resulted in quite a few unexpected outcomes. In pool it is very hard to judge who is going to win the game until the very last moment, making it all the more exhilarating and exciting to watch. The atmosphere during the pool matches was quite intense, the suspense of whether the ball went in, the unforced errors and stupid mistakes such as getting the white ball in, all play a part in whether you win or lose.
Ping.
The results of the tournament were already expected with Aman emerging champion for both singles and doubles with his partner Maandip Gill. The competition was a great way of bringing the whole college together to celebrate the talent of the students, as well as encourage them to take part in friendly competition.
The foosball competition on the other hand, like real football was filled with enthusiastic cheers from the spectators. There were even those know-it-all spectators that shouted pieces of advice to the players like, “Hit the sides!” or “Make sure the last man is in the middle!” and like every sport orientated game there was the occasional swearing.
The competition consisted of two categories, singles and doubles. The player or team that has the most wins at the end of the competition determines the winner. Among all the players there, one stood out the most. Not because he was the fairest and tallest of them all but because he was the “Unbeaten One”.
Since the start of the competition, Muhammad Iryan Saiq stood strong as the undefeated player of the competition and not just in the singles category but also the doubles together with team mate, Kevin Yoong. He is the TCSH foosball champion. “Playing singles gives me more control over the ball and its less intense compared to playing doubles. But the main reason I entered the competition is because I love the game.” laughed Iryan as I had a chat with him. Armed with experience from previous competitions, Iryan used his experience to his advantage and it paid off.
Other players such as Leon Gan even performed certain rituals before prepping up for a game. Rituals which he keeps a secret. “Real football strategies don’t work here lah. You have like 6 things in the middle of the table. How to use strategies?” said Leon when asked whether real life football strategies actually work in foosball. Clearly not.
Once upon a time, British upper-class citizens would stack a row of books across a desk and then use two books to hit a golf ball back and forth across the barrier. Later, cigar box lids were used as paddles and wine corks as balls. The game in question underwent two name changes before emerging in 1901 as ‘ping pong’, and the rest is history.
Pool.
The participants were numerous, and ranged from casual players to experienced professionals, all of whom hoped for a chance to demonstrate their skills and claim the title of champion. From the semi-finals, four players—Lee Kah Fai, Low Jian Min, Amirun and Yeap Chung Wye—emerged victorious to proceed to the quarter-finals. Applause erupted around the room as Low Jian Min defeated Lee Kah Fai 11-5; 11-8 and Amirun beat Yeap Chung Wye 11-3; 11-7. Both players proceeded to the finals.
On the 17th of March, the doubles tournament commenced. Due to the relatively small number of players, the three pairs that emerged from the qualifying round proceeded directly to Round Robin to determine the winners. Round Robin as well as the singles finals commenced on March 18. Aaron and Looi Chung Yi emerged as the victorious pair, followed by Lim Jeng Liang and Jimmy Lim in second place, and finally Jason Lim and Darryl Phoon in third place. In the singles finals, Low Jian Min defeated Amirun by winning three sets (11-8; 11-2; 11-7), losing only one set (9-11) to emerge as the champion.
Student Council members were generally satisfied with the tournament. “We have very good and experienced players joining the competition. They joined out of their own initiative and knew the rules well,” remarked Lim Peck Hwa who acted as referee for the singles tournament semi-finals and quarter-finals. “Many joined the event and supported it. Some people even made an effort to stay back and watch the matches!”
Foos.
Sadly, the downside to the tournament was the rather lackluster attendance by supporters. Generally, this was attributed to the venue of the tournament, which was held mostly in a closed area (Delta Theatre) compared to the foosball and pool tournaments which were held in the open area outside the ECA office. Nevertheless, the event was widely regarded to be at least moderately successful.
After a tiring week, students were able to rejoice in their victory and take pride in being a part of such a competitive and exciting tournament. I would like to congratulate everyone who took part or helped organize this competition. Its success has been the collective effort of many Taylor’s students, so thank you and well done! The student body will look forward to the next round of games with anticipation. Bring on Ping.Foos.Pool 2011!
By THONG WAI CHEONG, TASHYA DE SILVA and BENJAMIN OH
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