Story by REDintern Jia Lin Goh. Photos by Lim Yong Teck/Red Sports
Bryan Tan of ACS(I) returns a shot against Ang Mo Kio in the first doubles match. ACS(I) defeated Ang Mo Kio 2–0 (21–12, 21–14). (Photo 1 © Lim Yong Teck/Red Sports)
Anglo-Chinese School (Independent), Thursday, February 27, 2014 — Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) fired a warning to Raffles Institution (RI) ahead of their final clash by putting up a performance worthy of champions to crush Ang Mo Kio 5–0 in the semi-finals of the South Zone B Division Badminton Championship.
Prior to this matchup, ACS(I) had emerged as the winner of Group Y after they had defeated St. Joseph’s Institution, Fairfield Methodist School and Guangyang Secondary School 5–0 each.
Ang Mo Kio survived tough competitions to be ranked second in group X. They were beaten 5–0 by RI and had to rally to defeat Anglo-Chinese School (Barker Road) and Beatty Secondary School.
In the first singles, Ronald Yeo of ACS(I) and Lua Boon Keng of Ang Mo Kio contributed to a thrilling game filled with powerful smashes, fast-paced drive shots and skillful net plays. Ronald started the game well to establish a 7–2 lead. Boon Keng showed great composure and added more attacking plays to close the gap. The scoreline stood at 10–10 as both players fight to enter the interval with a slight advantage. It was Ronald who won the point through an angled smash which Boon Keng could not receive.
After the interval, Ronald continued his good run to 14–10 after Boon Keng sent the shuttle to the net several times. Boon Keng attempted to make a comeback when he executed a fast overhead drop shot beautifully that caught Ronald off guard. Ronald would hold on to seize the first set 21–15.
The second set saw Ronald producing smart plays and capitalising on errors made by Boon Keng to hold a 6–0 lead before heading into the interval with a 11–2 lead. Boon Keng managed to find some rhythm after the interval. First, a series of net plays ended with Ronald failing to drive the shuttle across the net. Next, Boon Keng produced a net kill that Ronald could not react to. However, Ronald recovered to reach game point at a scoreline of 20–11. He converted his third match point opportunity to win the set 21–13, thus securing the first point of this matchup for ACS(I).
ACS(I) won the first doubles 21–12, 21–14. The second set was a closely contested affair with Chanon Triyachart and Bryan Tan of ACS(I) having to dig deep to shrug off the determined duo of Ong Jia Jun and Jordan Teoh of Ang Mo Kio. Chanon and Bryan held a slim advantage of 11–9 over their opponents as the game went into the interval.
Jia Jun and Jordan came back from the interval as motivated as ever. They earned a point immediately through a powerful smash to cut the deficit to one point. An overhead drop shot by Jordan which narrowly cross the net secured yet another point for the Ang Mo Kio pair to draw the game level at 11–11. Chanon and Bryan fought back to restore their two-point advantage at 13–11.
Once again, Jia Jun and Jordan began staging a comeback when a smash to the back court was not saved by their ACS(I) counterpart. But at the critical moment, the Ang Mo Kio pair made three service faults that allowed ACS(I) to pull away and effectively extinguished Ang Mo Kio’s hopes of forcing a decider.
In the second singles match, Jiang Ming Xi of ACS(I) attained a comfortable win over Lionel Goh of Ang Mo Kio in two straight sets, 21–3, 21–11. This victory gave ACS(I) their third point of the matchup to book a place in the finals.
The second doubles match was a tight affair that resembled the second set of the first doubles match. But Tan Qi En and Lionel Lim of ACS(I) showed excellent composure and communication to defeat Low Hon Zheng and Remus Lee of Ang Mo Kio 21–14, 21–14.
ACS(I) made it five out of five when Ee Ming Rei outplayed Muhammad Haziq Rozaini 21–5, 21–4.
ACS(I) will face RI in the final of the South Zone B Division Badminton Championship on Wednesday, March 5, at Toa Payoh Indoor Sports Hall. RI put up a ruthless display to defeat St. Joseph’s Institution (SJI) 5–0 in the other semi-final.
Ang Mo Kio will face St. Joseph’s Institution in the third-place playoff to be held on Monday, March 3, at Kuo Chuan Presbyterian Secondary School.
More photos next page
Leave A Comment