By Farand Lim
In tonight’s highly tensed finale to the IHG season, TH’s track team had to beat EH for all our dreams to come true. Yet, this was not to be our night as despite KR winning the track double, the story of the night was that we did not manage to gain the edge required to keep the much coveted overall Champion trophy in our cabinets.
Yet all is not lost, a look at the support we had would tell you the spirit of Temasekians remained flying high. And there are other positives as well; Our girls once again dominating the girls Championship and the amount of titles that we won meant our spirits remained high despite the loss.
The start of the night saw our track teams warming up vigorously, all of them no doubt aware of the task at hand. At the stands, Sports Director Hongyi could be spotted deep in thought, the weight of the hall’s expectation bearing down on his broad shoulders. Despite the importance of today’s event, the weird thing was that neither TH nor EH was amongst the clear favorites for track. Lincoln, respected and experienced runner, mentioned before the game that KR would be strong competitors but we stood a good chance for the girl’s side. Optimism wasn’t exactly flying high but we had hope. Hope, was also what brought a possibly record TH crowd down, each and everyone coming down praying for a miracle similar to that of last year to happen again.
Continue reading “Stand Tall, Stand Proud Temasekians!”
22 February 2008
By Dominique Pang
With a clean sweep of 3-0 victory, we are the new champions!
The team had dashed the hopes of Sheares Hall’s girls’ team to dominate the championship title for the 4th year running. TH had won the SH team once during the prelims and now the TH team has won them again. The final match may have been a 3-0 sweet victory but the TH team did face their greatest rivals in this volleyball season. After the defeat in the preliminary round, SH had gotten themselves into better shape and improved tremendously in the semi-finals when they played with KR. This match of the season was not just a competition based on physical strength or skills but of mental perseverance and the important spirit of unitedness. We showed everyone how sweet victory is done the Temasekian way.
Continue reading “TH Volleyball Girls: The New Volleyball Champions.”
22 February 2008
By Guest Writer Wayne Sandhu
Having already proven themselves by beating heavy favourites Kent Ridge Hall in the semi-finals, Temasek again set out to prove themselves worthy opponents in the Inter Hall Games Soccer Finals. Pitted against tournament favourites, Eusoff Hall, Temasek played a game worthy of remembrance. Having just two Inter-Varsity players compared to several in Eusoff, Temasek’s luck was expected to run out. However events, it turned out, did not play out as most had planned…
We started warm ups promptly at 5 20 with Captain Ben electing to make a few changes to the starting line up that saw off Kent Ridge. The usual defense ensemble of Weiming, Yong Kiat, Junhong and Xian Hong protected Harpreet “Indomitable” Singh who started in goal. The midfield was led by on-field captain Hatta, partnered by Andy in the middle and flanked by Hans and Ken on the left and right respectively. Captain Ben opted for two strikers up front, Gabriel and Ze Yan. This audacious 4-4-2 formation turned out to be another inspired move by Captain Ben. In hindsight his tactical decisions proved to be game changing master strokes, this was no exception. He completed his squad by naming himself, Amos, Evan, Roy, Glass, Yuan Zhang & Lester on the bench.
Continue reading “Fong Seng Derby – Temasek Hall Defies the Odds”
21 February 2008
By Dominique Pang
Once again, we meet our neighbours, EH, in the fight for a hot seat in the final competition. Despite playing the game under the hot evening sun, the TH girls finished the game within 3 matches and deservingly earned themselves a place in the finals.
Today’s match had a rocky start as the TH team took a long time to get warmed up to the game. The service was volleyed between the two teams and there was a narrow difference in the scores for both teams. In addition, the strict referees took a few points from us for touching the net and crossing the court boundaries. The TH girls were starting to feel frustrated and an opportune timeout was quickly requested for the team. The girls naturally rallied round and encouraged each other. With a loud TH cheer, they entered the courts again with greater confidence to win. Undaunted by the bad start, the girls held on and ensured that their opponents would not be able to earn any more points out of their own mistakes. The precious points were subsequently gained with the winning formula of good receives, great sets and menacing spikes among the teammates and they eventually won the first match, 25-19.
Continue reading “TH Volleyball Girls are Finally There; Straight Sets Victory Over Rivals!”
19 February 2008
By Chua Yongbin
The recently concluded IHG cross campus road was a true display of the indomitable Temasek spirit, with both the guys and girls teams running their hearts out, achieving commendable timings.
The girls’ team was at their dominating best, as Hui en, Kit Fei, Jaslin, Dong Xiang, Ziyun and Haryati quashed all opposition and maintained a commanding lead over the other halls throughout the whole race. The last runner for the first runner-up Sheares Hall was a good few minutes behind Haryati, our last runner. Ask any seasoned road relay runners, and they will tell you that few minutes in this competition is indeed a convincing win. When enquired by this author before the race about the winning prospects, team captain Dong Xiang gave a conservative “50-50” answer, with Kent Ridge as the main competitor. Evidently, either she underestimated the prowess and determination of her more than capable team, or she was just her usual humble and pleasant self. Kudos to the girls’ team for winning consecutive road relay titles!
Continue reading “Salute to TH’s X Campus’ Indomitable Spirit!”
19 February 2008
-Jackson Ho-
Our volleyball guys fought hard in the semis against Sheares but the 2 years champions were not easy to deal with. They won us 3-0 straight sets but we gave them a good run for every set. The lineup is the same as the last 2 matches, just that Amos and Tiger took turn to be setter so as to create “3 points attack”. This tactic used will allow Tiger to spike when he is in the front row which he never got a chance to do it as a setter for the last 2 matches.
We had a good start to all 3 sets with a decent few points lead, but Sheares guys always managed to get their act together and catch up with the lead. The greatest chance we got is in the 2nd set, where we led them by 11-6. But they soon caught up with us and turn the table around. The 3rd set started and ended pretty similarly. The Sheares guys realize that it was not an easy task to spike through our blockers and thus they resort to dropping. It was an effective tactic used by them as they managed to gain quite a lot of points when the ball lobbed over our blockers with no one covering them. The score line for the 3 sets are: 21-25, 20-25, 22-25.
TH volleyball guys put up a good performance today despite facing a more experienced Sheares team. And for all the graduating seniors, your last year last chance definitely did not go to waste! Up la!
19 February 2008
By Junhong
18th February 2008.
After topping the group in the preliminaries, tonight was the night we faced Kent Ridge hall in the semi-finals. We knew this would be a physical and tiring game, as Kent Ridge has a few (if not many) varsity players playing for their team this year. We knew we would be able to stage an upset against the men in blue. The team talk we had the night before, the support every player showed for each other, on field and off, the hunger for the IHG soccer title, the brilliant tactics from our captain, all added up to the winning formula which has led us thus far.
The lineup for the day was Harpreet, Xianhong, Yongkiat, Weiming, Junhong, Andy, Hatta, Ken, Hans, Jiajie and Gabriel.
Continue reading “Soccer Victory over KR Dream Team”
19 February 2008
By Guest Writer Wayne Sandhu
Knowing that a draw was needed to secure top spot in our qualification group, Temasek set out with a changed squad of players to do battle with our opponents from Sheares Hall. Played on Field 1’s bigger surface, it was the opportune moment for the Temasek boys to showcase their talents and impress upon Captain Ben their desire for a semi-final berth.
Warm ups were conducted promptly at 1715 by Ken in an attempt to shake off any chance of going into the game “cold”. Having selected the starting line up the night before, Captain Ben jumped straight into his pre game instructions cum pep talk. The squad for the day saw Harpreet in goal, Wei Ming, Yong Kiat, Jun Hong & Xian Hong in their familiar defensive roles while Hatta, Ken, Glass & Mark completed the midfield ensemble; rounding off the starting 11 was the partnership of Andy and Jia Jie in attack. Captain Ben, Amos, Lester, Yuan Zhang, Gabriel, Roy and Evan completed the line up for the day.
Continue reading “Dogged Determination Sees Temasek Hall Through to Semi-finals!”
18 February 2008
-Jackson Ho-
Our volleyball guys lost to KR guys 1-2 this evening, and resulted in a win and loss for the 3 halls. Due to point difference, we finished 2nd place in the prelims. Thus we will meet Sheares in the semis on the 19th.
The lineup is the same as our match against Eusoff. The first set went well for our guys, with good serves from Tiger (Zheng Guang) and equally good spikes from Yao min and Slyvester. And thus we finished off the first set with a score line of 25-19.
Just when we thought all things were going well for us, 2nd set started off just like the Eusoff game. Although the guys were fighting hard to equalize, we were always trailing 1 or 2 points behind KR guys in the whole set. In the end, the set ended with us losing 21-25.
The most crucial 3rd set was as exciting as ever. Our guys were down 1-4 at first, and the crowd feared that we will lose the set just like the 2nd one. However, the guys managed to pick themselves up quickly and stop them from getting a lead on us. Both sides entered a point to point battle and the crowd was cheering their heart out for each point gained. We were leading 23-21 and 2 more points were all we needed to win this important match. However, when we thought that the next point went to us, the referee claimed that one of our players stepped on the line below the net and gave the point to the opponent. This was not the first bad call of the day but it was definitely a fatal decision from the referee this time. The crowd cheered our guys on and wanted them to win the next 2 points badly. However after that decision, we started to lose our momentum and the game ended 23-25.
It was hard luck for us this evening and we definitely hope luck will be on our side on the 19th. Supporters are what the guys needed even more and we hope to see more Temasekians going down to SRC to cheer our guys on!
15 February 2008
By Dominique Pang
The Temasek girls managed to win the King Edward team outright, 2-0. KE may not have many experienced players but they gave our girls a good run for the game.
The Temasek team took some time to settle down into the game and both teams were locked in a close fight. Our girls did not let loose at all, we immediately fought harder and gave many winning spikes and serves. Soon after, TH girls took the game down with 25-11.
The TH girls were all warmed up to win after the first set and showed the KE girls a worthy game. Our girls had the upper hand for the 2nd set since we were the first to serve. Our main spiker, Cheryl delivered many excellent services in a row which greatly dampened the morale of the KE girls. It was only after 9 services in a row that KE was able to take over the service. However, Linda and Bee Hui, both earned the team points with their wonderful spikes. They were proof to the other halls that every player in TH’s volleyball team is good enough to ace. Eventually, Dominique ended the set with her serve and the girls had a smashing victory of 25-6.
The TH volleyball girls are playing their semis next Tuesday. Come support them!
15 February 2008
