U17 Beach Volleyball: Anderson twice beats St Hilda’s teams to ultimately win boys’ final

By Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports

Siloso Beach, Sunday, May 29, 2011 — Anderson Secondary capped off their dream run to the final by beating a team made up of former St Hilda’s players 2-1 (18-21, 21-19, 15-11) to win the Volleyball Association of Singapore’s U17 Beach Volleyball Competition. Team Anderson Black, comprising Soon Ping Huay and Syamil Bin Toriman, had earlier beaten another St Hilda’s team, Team Oreo Boys (Andy Ong and Iryan bin Iraimi) in the semi-finals to set up this David vs Goliath match.

Team Zh & Cy (ZHCY), comprising Tan Zheng Han and Chan Chi Yiu, were widely seen as the favourites to win the final as the players both had height and power in their spikes. They drew an early lead in the first set, with spikes from Zheng Han (ZHCY, #1) taking several points. Despite Anderson pulling back to level the score at the 5-5 mark and 8-8 mark, they were no match for ZHCY as they stormed ahead, taking set point after a spike by Syamil (Anderson, #2) went out of bounds.

However, ZHCY did not have an easy task taking the last point as they found themselves held for six consecutive points as Anderson slowly caught up while exploiting errors in ZHCY’s play. ZHCY finally clinched the last point after a powerful cross court spike by Chi Yiu (ZHCY, #2) was unreturnable.

Things were however very different in the second set. Anderson seemed all fired up and ran off to a 5-1 lead. Despite ZHCY closing the gap, they were kept on the back foot as Anderson continued with the lead. ZHCY seemed to have retreated from the net and were choosing to fight it out using their receives rather than blocks, allowing Anderson to play their shots with a wider available angle.

ZHCY finally closed in on the 14-14 mark, but were not able to turn the tables on Anderson as Syamil (Anderson, #2) sent a spike to the ZHCY back court. At the 19-18 mark, ZHCY put up an incredible play to level the score. Zheng Han (ZHCY, #1) pulled off a spectacular save for Chi Yiu (ZHCY #2) to tap the ball into a spot where Anderson could not get to in time. ZHCY were however not so lucky on the next rally as they were unable to rescue the ball. Anderson were then gifted the last point after Chi Yiu (ZHCY, #2) sent his spike out of bounds.

Anderson kept up their momentum and firmly held onto their lead in the third set. ZHCY were getting increasingly frustrated as they continued to fumble. As Anderson increased their lead, their confidence grew and were soon at match point (14-9). ZHCY were not going down easily and took the next point after a drop shot by Zheng Han (ZHCY, #1). Syamil (Anderson, #2) spiked out of bounds at the next rally to deny themselves a quick win. However, Ping Huay (Anderson, #1) eventually sealed the set in the next rally as he saw his spike deflect off his opponent to go out of bounds.

Final score
Anderson 2 ZHCY 1
18-21, 21-19, 15-11

In the 3rd/4th placing match, Team Oreo Boys (Andy Ong and Iryan bin Iraimi) beat Pasir Ris Crest Secondary Team 2 (Benjamin Yio and Ryan Matthew Low) 2-1 (18-21, 21-13, 15-9). Team Oreo had edged out another fellow St Hilda’s team, Team O.T.K (Kevin Chua and Matthaeos Ang) 21-20 in the quarter-finals but unfortunately could not defeat Anderson in their semi-final.

With Anderson’s victory, the team has all the more to cheer as they achieved a double, with both their boys’ and girls’ teams emerging champions of the tournament.

The Teams’ Road to the Final
Anderson Black (Soon Ping Huay and Syamil bin Toriman)
Knockout round: beat River Valley High (Ngoi Hong Kai and Brandon Pee) 21-18
Quarter-final: beat Pikachu is Godlike Team 3 (Adalnic Ng and Timothy Kong) 21-14
Semi-final: beat Team Oreo Boys (Andy Ong and Iryan Bin Iraimi) 21-19, 22-20
Final: beat Team Zh & Cy (Tan Zheng Han and Chan Chi Yiu) 18-21, 21-19, 15-11

Team Zh & Cy (Tan Zheng Han and Chan Chi Yiu)
Knockout round: beat Team Kevin (Kevin Tan and Timothy Wong) 21-7
Quarter-final: beat Pikachu is Godlike Team 2 (Daniel Nyau and Joshua Ang) 21-20
Semi-final: beatPasir Ris Crest Secondary Team 2 (Benjamin Yio and Ryan Matthew Low) 21-15, 21-19
Final: lost Anderson Black (Soon Ping Huay and Syamil bin Toriman) 21-18, 19-21, 11-15

For more photos, go to the next page.