water polo write up original

Waterpolo Semi finals

We heard the draw on the day of the 2nd preliminary round match against Hall 10. We would be facing Hall 16 in the quarters and Hall 6 in the semis. This was apparently the hardest draw we could have gotten as finalists, and we got it. Sometimes, the road to the finals is an easy one. Ours was not one of them, nor was it a road, since waterpolo is not land-based. But I digress. All those Sundays spent in the pool in Toa Payoh, swimming our guts out, losing our pride to the National girls team (excluding our IVP players), was all for this.
 
Dear readers, at this point in time, close your eyes, rub it hard and pretend that you are time travelling to the not-so-distant future. Now that you are reading this, I assume you have already opened them. Were the stars and hyperspace effect good? You are now at the poolside. A sea of white jerseys and green jerseys gathered at opposite ends of the pool to watch their men in trunks (In our case, men and shark) battle it out. Our captain, Ray, delivered his pre-match briefing with the cheering (more like incessant chattering) as the background noise. “Hall 6 is faster and fitter, but we have more skills, more technique. Play to your strengths, and we’ll take this game down,” I kind of remember him saying. Or something along that line. The starting line-up was confirmed, the game about to start anytime.
 
I took my position, standing beside our (self-declared) guest of honour, Mr Ervin Lai. The whistle blew, and immediately, Ray was angry. Alvin Kuek, our starting centre back for the day and rock star extraordinaire had swum into the centre forward position. The bench was silent. As a non-player for the day, I could tell the stark contrast between the supporters and the bench. They were still cheering us on, but we knew we were not doing well. The score was deadlocked at 0-0 for a long period. As much as we had our spirits up before the game, it was not looking good. Suddenly, our rock star, still in his wrong position, had possession of the ball near their goal. He threatened to shoot a few times before unleashing a shot past their keeper. And that was about all the action the quarter had to offer.
 
The first quarter ended. It was time for the team talk, and Ray had to come up with a motivation speech in double quick time. We did not play well at all.
 
“Eh. Fuck you all. What the fuck was that?!”
 
Motivational indeed. The rest of the talk was not important because it only focused on how we should be playing and stuff people are not interested in. We did up our game in the 2nd quarter, playing with more fighting spirit and determination (I was watching, so I watched with more fighting spirit and determination), not letting our opponents have an easy time. Kenryu, half heart throb, half Street Fighter superhero decided enough was enough. After something happened (the splashing had covered whatever was going on, so nobody could see anything. I think he used 天), the ball ended up in the net again. Kuek, Jian Long and Ray also scored. Long story short, we were winning at half time. 5-1.
 
Buoyed by the performance in the 2nd quarter, our players upped their game in the 3rd quarter, scoring another three goals. By then, Jon (who had up till this moment been quite unlucky in front of the goal) had opened his account, and our most improved player, Kiat Yao (who had already scored before, being quite the lucky guy) had swum the length of the pool to pass the ball to their keeper. Ray was breaking out his party tricks. When he scored his (in)famous back shot (for the first time), the crowds cheers were contrasted with the benches chorus of boos and other vulgarities directed at Ray. Normally mild, Kenryu looked like he was about to bite someone’s ear off. I took a few steps away, afraid for my own safety. At 8-1, the game looked well and truly over.
 
But of course, like all stories go, the game is never over until it was over. And so the last quarter proved. With tired legs, tired minds, and a not small dose of complacency, we managed to concede 3 goals while scoring 2. HOWEVER, no waterpolo game is complete without seeing Francis the shark turning on his jets, and so he obliged. With his (metaphorical) dorsal fin slicing through the surface of the water, he turned and went past the Hall 6 players like a motorboat, not once, not 10 times, but TWICE! Unfortunately, their keeper managed to save both of his shots. And so it ended, 10-4. We hit double digits for the first time this season, and it was evident how much our players have grown since we first entered the pool some 4 months ago. Of course, not everyone could play a part in this game, but the passion shown by those who weren’t playing was encouraging. The final hurdle against Hall 3 is high, but not insurmountable. Sir Edmund Hillary managed to climb Mount Everest, but that has nothing to do with us. This is not mountain climbing. This is waterpolo.


By Hall 2 Waterpolo.

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