SEPAK TAKRAW!

SEPAK TAKRAW!
Sepak takraw had taken place at the same time as netball (which BLK C won btw), so not many supporters had come down to the MPSH to support this awesome sport. Though not a common sport in Singapore, sepak takraw is mainly played by the Malays but is enjoyed just as much right here in NUS as well as in the halls. Sepak takraw, or kick volleyball is a sport native to Southeast Asia, resembling volleyball, except that it uses a rattan ball and only allows players to use their feet, knee, chest and head to touch the ball. It is a popular sport in Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Laos, Philippines and Indonesia.

Acers vs Eekers, C-Towners vs Beekers

Two matches took place concurrently. Both matches had their own individual moments of brilliance but for because this writer took part in one of them this section is mostly going to be about the match between the Towners and the Beekers. The match started off with the Towners leading the Beekers by 10-5. But moments of poor performances by the Towners led to their downfall. The turning point came when the Towners lost their momentum and eventually allowed their lead to be cut drastically which resulted in them losing the their 1st set. The 2nd set saw the Beekers controlling most of the game and they beat the Towners easily. Being down 2 sets, the last game saw the Towners just having a good time as they eventually lost out to the Beekers on the last set. Over at the other side, a strong looking Acers team saw them winning all three of their sets against the Eekers. So the final results were as follows:
Blk A – Blk E : 21-6, 21-15, 21-12 (3-0)
Blk B – Blk C : 21-18, 25-23, 21-10 (3-0)
Evelyn, the new blockhead, I mean Block Head, is proud of block C.

Dee Blockers vs Eekers, C-Towners vs Acers

The tournament favourites Dee Blockers were up against the Eekers in their 1st encounter of the evening. They had no problem in beating the opposition as they fielded their strongest players against the Eekers in Alvin, Wei Song and Jun Ming. They went on to win all of their 3 sets. The other court saw the Towners playing against eventual finalists the Acers. Thought they put up a good fight, the Towners themselves saw them bowing out to a much stronger Acers team. They eventual results were:
Blk D vs Blk E : 21-12, 21-5, 21-18 (3-0)
Blk A vs Blk C : 14-21, 21-8, 21-9 (2-1)
Evelyn is very proud of block C.

Dee Blockers vs Beekers

This was the deciding match in which the winners would eventually go on to reach the finals. The crowd started coming in as the netball game was over and supporters from both blocks starting filling the MPSH. The 1st match was between the best teams of both sides. The match was as intense as the crowd was cheering for their blocks to win. The takraw captain, Joel from block B put up an awe inspiring performance against the Dee Blockers but they were too strong for the Beekers. They lost out to them and eventually lost the other 2 sets as well. So it was on to the finals for block D. Final score:
Blk B – Blk D : 13-21, 16-21, 5 -21 (0-3)

Finals! Blk A vs Blk D

After a long and tiring journey, it was finally, well, the finals. The sea of yellow was equaled by the sea of white as the Acers took on the Dee Blockers in the final round of the competition. The winners of this match would go on to become the champions of Sepak Takraw and would enjoy bragging rights for the rest of the year until the next IBG. The most exciting of the finals came in the 1st game where the strongest players pitted against each other. The awesome threesome of Alvin, Wei Song and Jun Ming started against the Acers. Moments of brilliant individual performances by Da Lun from block A saw the game being very tight as both teams were performing equally well. Eventually though, the Acers were overwhelmed by a series of excellent headers by Alvin and the Dee Blockers took the game 21-18. The 2nd set saw the Dee Blockers thrashing their opponents 21-6 and they went on to become champions of takraw, well at least for the coming year.

On a stormy rainy night....
TRR