Raffles Institution wrest A Division tennis title back from ACS(I)

By Marvin Lowe

Kallang Tennis Centre, Wednesday, May 20, 2009 – Raffles Institution reclaimed the A Division Boys’ Tennis Championship title from Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) after winning 4-1 in the final. Despite the score line, the competition was much closer and more intense than it seemed.

The first point of the final went to Raffles. Terence Lim from Raffles breezed past Ian Goh from ACS(I) 6-2, 6-1 in the first singles game. Raffles quickly added a second point when their doubles pairing of Dominic Boey and Dillion Tan overcame the ACS(I) pair of Marcus chua and Kenneth Tan 6-4, 6-1.

Despite going up 2-0,the title still wasn’t in the bag for Raffles. There were still 3 ongoing battles in the various courts. Raffles needed to only win one but it could still swing ACS(I) way if they managed to win all three. In the second singles, Felix from Raffles faced off against Brian from ACS(I). It was a close and tense battle between the two of them. Brian took the first set with much ease, running off with a 6-1 score line. However, Felix fought back in the second set to level things out. The second set was a long drawn affair. It was see saw battle which saw both players seemingly gain the upper hand after breaking their opponent’s serve.

Brian Koh came down with cramps midway through the game and needed medical attention. He was not the same after the time out and subsequently lost the set 7-6 to Felix. Brian was greatly hampered by his injury. Felix then raced off to 2-0 lead in the final set before Brian finally succumbed to his injuries and had to retire injured. With Brian’s retirement, Raffles secured their victory for the championship.

In the other doubles match-up, another intense battle was ensuing. Greg Pek and Tan Ying Te from Raffles were busy battling the pairing of Justin Low and Kenneth Kam from ACS(I). The first set went to ACS after they managed to break the Rafflesian’s service game to win it 6-4. The Raffles pair then fought back to win the second set 6-3 to level the game. ACS(I) then secured their solitary point after winning the final set 6-4 to seal their victory.

The other ongoing match saw Raffles’ Lim Han Ren go up against ACS(I)’s Marcus Tay, a Davis Cup representative for Singapore. This was the third singles game played. Although the Raffles team knew they had already won, winning this final game was important. More than just about pride, it would justify that their victory was legitimate and was not due to Brian’s retirement.

Han Ren ruffled Marcus’s nerves early by winning the first set 7-5. It took a mammoth effort for Han Ren to win the first game. Han Ren won 4 straight points to mount a comeback win after going down early. Marcus had broken Han Ren’s serve early to take a 5-3 lead. However he failed to close the match out when he could have. Han Ren broke Marcus’s serve twice to eventually win the game. It was a long rally which took almost an hour to complete. Marcus then recomposed himself to breeze past Han Ren in the second set 6-2.

The final set was the climax of this epic thriller. Both players traded points, breaking each other’s serve at one point. However,Marcus made the crucial break through and went 6-5 up on his serve. He just needed to just hold his serve to win the match. At this point, Marcus was already stretched to his physical limit. He lost 4 straight points to Han Ren to send the match into a tie break. Sensing that his opponent was at the limit of physical extertion, Han Ren went for the kill. He raced to 3-0 lead early in the tie, winning crucial points on Marcus’s serve. It seemed like Marcus was about muster his inner reserves when he won 2 straight points to make it a close fight at 4-2. However, Han Ren killed off all notions of a fightback by winning the next 3 straight points to win the tie break 7-2 and emerge victorious in the match.

Han Ren was ecstatic over the victory. ” This was a fantastic match! Going into this game, I thought I only had a 50-50 chance of winning. I guess the tough physical training that we underwent before tournament did pay off today.” shared Han Ren. He then proceeded to pay tribute to his opponent, ” Marcus is a great player and he definitely stretched me to my limits today. It was fantastic to play a match like that with him!”

Coach Weber was over the moon with his charges performance. He too stressed on the emphasis of the physical training that he made his team go through. “You really have to give credit to the boys. They worked tirelessly throughout the season. It could have gone either way today, but in the end, the team with the better fitness won the day.”