BADMINTON

North Zone ‘C’ Division
Xinmin Secondary vs CHIJ – St Joseph’s Convent
Tuesday, 13 February 2007, xinmin Secondary

Text and pictures © Leslie Tan/soulbreath pictures.

The badminton girls from Xinmin Secondary mastered their St Joseph’s Convent opponents on home ground to win 3-2.

Tong Jia Le in action for Xinmin Sec in the 1st singles


In the 1st singles, Tong Jia Le of Xinmin Secondary won in straights sets, 11-2, 11-3, against Cassandra Soh of St Joseph’s Convent.  Cassandra, egged on by her team mates and teacher-in-charge of badminton, Ms Jean, tried her best but could not cope with Jia Le’s stroke play.

Cassandra Soh of St Joseph’s Convent in the 1st singles

In the 1st doubles, Priscilla Ong and Jolin Nai of Xinmin Secondary took on Joey Ng and Tan Ping Ping of SJC.  The SJC pair went on the attack and built up a huge 11-3 lead before Priscilla and Jolin fought back and narrowed the deficit to 9-12.  However, Joey and Ping Ping recovered their momentum and regained serve to surge ahead to 14-9.  They wasted one set point before wrapping up the first set 15-9.

SJC doubles pair of Joey Ng and Tan Ping Ping

In the second set, Joey and Ping Ping surged ahead again, building up a quick 7-3 lead before the Xinmin pair could recover from the 1st set loss.  While the SJC doubles pair lost their serve a few times, they did not yield another point to Xinmin and wrapped up the 2nd set 15-3 to even the overall score at 1-1 in the best-of-5 game.

The Xinmin Sec doubles pair of Priscilla Ong and Jolin Nai

In the 2nd singles match between Stephanie Leong of SJC and Charlotte Lim of Xinmin Sec, the SJC player was outplayed by her superior opponent and quickly dispatched 11-4, 11-0.

Charlotte Lim of Xinmin Secondary in the 2nd singles

With the overall score 2-1 in favour of Xinmin Secondary, SJC had to win the 2nd doubles match to stave off defeat.  This heavy burden fell on the shoulders of Sharmini Devi and Felicia Lim who took on the Xinmin Secondary pair of Ng Shi Yao and Jasmine Lee.

Sharmini Devi of SJC playing in the 2nd doubles game

However, this burden proved too heavy as Shi Yao and Jasmine of Xinmin tore through them and took a swift 7-0 lead.  Unable to cope with the power of the Xinmin girls, the SJC pair found themselves at the wrong end of a 12-2 score before Shi Yao and Jasmine wrapped up the first set 15-4 despite strong vocal support from their team mates.  In the second set, Sharmini and Felicia provided stronger resistance.  While they managed to win serve on occasion, they were unable to win points and the Xinmin pair raced to a 13-4 lead.  With their backs against the wall, Sharmini and Felicia were able to win 3 more points to slow the momentum of Shi Yao and Jasmine.  An unforced error by SJC saw the serve return to Xinmin and they moved to game point at 14-5.  With a last effort, Sharmini and Felicia won back serve and put 2 more points on the board before Shi Yao and Jasmine won back the serve and wrapped up the 2nd set 15-7.

Felicia Lim of SJC keeps her eye on the shuttlecock in the 2nd doubles game while her partner Sharmini Devi looks on

With the overall score now 3-1 in favour of Xinmin Secondary, it was now left to the 3rd single player, Irene Guay of SJC to salvage some pride.  She despatched Alexa Soh of Xinmin efficiently with a comprehensive 11-2, 11-1 win.

Irene Guay of St Joseph’s Convent in action against Xinmin Secondary

Alexa Soh of Xinmin Secondary


More action shots in the Picture Gallery.