IFG Roundup: Week 4

Team Law has finally landed itself in the medal tally, having bagged 2 medals this week! Find out which are the teams that made it to the podium as we bring to you all the exciting action from this week’s roundup.

Frisbee

Following 2016’s top 4 finish that the skies literally handed to us, the Law Frisbee team had hope to emulate a similar level of success this year. Despite the unavailability of residential twin towers, Jin Loong (Y2) and Jamin (Y3), the team fielded top-notch players such as, inter alia, Natalie Lim (Y4), Timothy Oen (Y4) and Nicole Lim (Y1), the latter proving to be a key difference-maker on the occasions she wasn’t late.

Group stages

SDE: 4-3

Just like how law students attempt their tutorials, the team started off the day with a slow start, with sloppy passes leading to turnovers. However, the team also played tough defence which also limited SDE’s offence. Law finally made a breakthrough when Ben (Y2) assisted to Tim Oen to score their first point of the day. The rest of the game was a back-and-forth affair, with certain controversial foul calls made. However, the law team took over and scored the last point to win the game.

FASS: 4-3

The FASS team started the game making a series of mistakes, no doubt intimidated by the arrival of 2 national team players (Deepansh and Natalie), and distracted by the dashing good looks of Shi Kai (Y2), quickly falling to a 3-1 hole. However, complacency got to our team and it allowed our opponents to claw their way back to a 3-3 draw. With time running out, a universe point was declared (whichever team that scored the next point would win). A well-put huck from Jethro (Y4) ensured that the team escaped with a narrow victory.

Engineering: 2-2

Law then faced the (in)famous Engineering team, a traditional powerhouse that eventually went on to become the champions. With the score at a nail-bitingly close 1-1, Ershad (Y3) dubiously took out 2 opponents in one go. Catching a pass, he snakily avoided contact from 2 defenders who promptly collided with each other. One of them suffered a suspected concussion, while the other defender suffered psychiatric harm at the sight of his friend’s injury (assuming all the McLoughlin proximities as a secondary victim are fulfilled). We only hope that he doesn’t set a precedent for such injuries, and we wish him a speedy recovery!

Computing: 4-2

Lawyers aren’t known for their deft arithmetic skills and despite having already secured qualification as our pool’s second seed, we still decided to “finish strong” with the last game of the day, instead of returning to the comforts of Zhan Yi’s muggers. The game involved several big-boy plays from both sides, which included spectacular catches by Grant, Computing’s Tar Heel from North Carolina and Junrong throwing a perfect huck to end the game.

Knockout stages

Medicine: 3-6

On a humid Wednesday night, the Law team took to the KR fields yet again for the knockout stages. Unfortunately, the games were delayed due to the physical encroachment of a number of football players who refused to leave the field despite the IFG committee having booked the venue. This drew mixed reactions, from wise quips about property rights and private nuisance (law students are such nerds) to the Med students asking the Law team to sue the intruders. For once, it was a refreshing change that Med students finally recognised who the superior side is.

This superiority did not last long as the Law team promptly fell to a 5-0 hole when the game started. As Captain Deepansh put it during a time-out, the team played with fear and too much respect for our formidable opponents. With nothing to lose, the team went out with renewed aggression, scoring 3 quick points in succession to make the score line a tad more respectable and our rivals panic.

3rd/4th Placing: Science 5-4

With hopes pinned on securing an elusive IFG medal, the team played their hearts out for the final game of the IFG frisbee season. The crowd got what they wanted and witnessed an exciting game with dives, long throws and runs that provided much entertainment on that foggy Wednesday night. The game reached its climax with the score tied at 4-4 with a universe point being declared. Finally, Tim Oen proved why he was a modern-day reincarnation of Heracles, outpacing 2 Science defenders to catch a huck and score the winning point.

Game. Set. Victory. Touchdown. Law got its first podium finish for IFG 2017.

We’d like to thank the Y1s (Weng Han, Lu Yi and Nicole) for prioritising medals over memos, the Y2s (Deepansh, Shi Kai, Junrong, Kyle, Ben Ted) for being such good Company, the Y3s (Ershad, Cassmine, Yeow Xuan) for Exchanging their overseas experiences for the muddy fields of Kent Ridge and the Y4s (Natalie, Tim Oen, Melissa, Jethro) for greasing their creaking joints to play with the young ones. Special mention goes out to Kyle for proving that age is but a number and that he was Back For Good, as well as FOCC Chairperson Ben Ted who unilaterally declared himself the team MVP for writing this article during LSA seminars.

Now that IFG is over, the team is hoping to improve in time for MedLaw, the result of which would definitely be an improvement on our 3^rd place finish. Special mention to Captain Deepansh for leading the team to a rare podium finish, and do approach Ben Ted for Deepansh’s number if you’d like to play frisbee (or if you just want to DM him).

 

Men’s Football

Having exited the tournament on penalties at this stage last year (due to some atrocious penalties from, inter alia, then IVP-wannabe Josiah Tham), the law football team was more stoked than ever for this year’s IFG football semi-finals. Standing between them and law’s first ever IFG finals appearance in any non e-sport in recent memory, was the faculty of engineering. As law football captain Benedict Tan succinctly put it, “This is our chance.” The team had just came off an impressive preliminary round where we steamrollered the competition. Engine, on the other hand, had limped into the semi-finals by finishing 2nd in their group.

Semi-final: Engineering 1-0

The game got off to a nervous start, as Engine stamped their authority from the outset. Law, reeling from the early absence of game-changing midfielder Josiah who turned up late for the game (*cough* star-player mentality *cough* — joking he was setting up for IFG frisbee that was happening concurrently), looked slow to the ball. Goalkeeper James Lek showcased superb awareness as he thwarted several of their chances, whilst the other chances were ballooned into the sky, going for the birds that were flying to their evening roost. At the other end, Law looked threatening on the counter attack, with Nick Yap’s determination and Eugene’s composed and incisive passing causing problems for Engine’s defence.

Alas, Engine eventually took the lead just before half-time, as several scrappy touches and lucky bounces resulted in their striker receiving the ball just inside the box. Despite a last-ditch effort by defensive rock Alexander Philip, the engine striker managed to squeeze the ball through the tiniest of angles and into the bottom corner of the net.

The law team pressed on in search of that all-important equalizer as the game resumed after half-time. Egged on by the tremendous support from our supporters, we recovered from the early game jitters and begun to pile the pressure on our opponents. After some neat combination play, Darren broke free on the left wing, surging forward like Gareth Bale used to do for Spurs. Displaying his Arsenal of body feints and step-overs, Darren forced his defender to commit before sending in a pin-point cross into the six-yard box. Denzyl, making a textbook near post run (just as the best strikers in the world do), caused chaos in the box as he drew the attention of the Engine goalkeeper and defenders. The ball missed everybody and flashed right across the face of goal. With the goal wide open, the on-rushing Ben threw himself towards the path of the swerving ball. To the dejected screams of “Ooohhh” from the law supporters, Ben’s leg at full-stretch was unfortunately a mere whisker away from reaching the ball, as it flew past him and out of the danger area.

The momentum had swung in favour of the law team. Not long after, Captain Ben dispossessed the Engine’s central midfielder and spotting Avril’s intelligent run along the inside left channel, he slipped the ball through to send Avril clean on goal. Eyeing the top corner of the goal, Avril cut to his right foot before pulling the trigger. To his dismay, the Engine defender managed to recover just in time to stick his leg into the path of the curling effort. As Avril would later lament, “Wah if the defender hadn’t blocked the shot ah, confirm top corner one”. Another chance had gone begging.

As the clock started to wind down, we were given one final chance as the referee awarded us a corner. Captain Ben stepped up to send a delicious in-swinging corner into the danger zone. Star striker Denzyl Ang once again showed his incredible upper body strength as he shrugged off the two imposing center backs. Leaping high into the air as he flexed those incredible neck muscles, Denzyl connected with the ball and sent an unchallenged bullet header towards goal. Unfortunately, it was just not our day as the ball sailed narrowly over the bar. The game eventually ended 1-0 to Engine, with the law team just missing out on a place in the finals. As one law supporter would later sum up, “it was emotional.”

3rd/4th Placing: YNC 1-2

In a repeat of our previous group stage encounter, we faced YNC for the last spot on the podim. Despite both teams losing in the semi-finals, this was no dead rubber as both sides were determined to finish the campaign with a win.

The law team was quick off the blocks, with tireless runner Jansheer constantly pressuring the opponent midfielders. His industrious effort was eventually rewarded as he peeled off his marker to casually head in Sakthi’s corner, putting law in the lead. Soon after, YNC equalized against the run of play, with their striker taking advantage of a counter-attacking situation.

Josiah would later restore the team’s lead, smashing in a powerful free kick from the edge of the box. Perhaps in his eagerness to finally score a goal this season, Josiah kicked the ball a little too hard, injuring himself in the process. He limped off immediately after scoring, to rapturous applause from the crowd who had recognised the “sacrifice” he had made. One wonders if it was just a ploy to milk some attention from the crowd, but we nonetheless appreciate his efforts for juggling all his IVP trainings and giving up two other IFGs (basketball & handball) to join our IFG campaign.

The game eventually finished 2-1 to Law, with the team finishing 3rd in this year’s football IFG.

The team would like to express their gratitude to all the supporters for supporting the team. Also, for those who would like to witness first-hand the sheer brilliance of our rising Y1 football talents, don’t miss this year’s QWP inter-level football league opening ceremony! Happening this Friday, 22^nd of September, 4pm at the Upper Quad, our Y1s will be taking on SMU Law in the much-anticipated curtain-raiser event. Do come down to show your support!

Men’s Volleyball

It is that time of the year again when “Jai Ho” Foo Jyh Howe (Y3) is arrowed to contribute an IFG article — that’s right, IFG volleyball season is in!

With the golden generation from the recently-graduated Class of ‘17 being an integral part of our past IFG campaigns, newly-appointed captain “Bankai” Yap Shi Kai (Y2) was tasked with rebuilding our team. To make matters worse, his vice-captain Jeremy “USPlayer” Ng (Y2) acted in breach of his fiduciary duties to the Law team and went to captain USP instead, while Daniel “Libero Arts” Wong (Y1) also had commitments to his YNC team, although admittedly not as a libero.

Thus, promising new talents in the form of Joshua “the Red” Tan, Jonny “the Hammer” Oh, Utsav “Cricket Star” Rakshit (all Y1) and “Baller” Li Zixuan (exchange) were recruited, while “Badminton” Yu Kai Yan and Maverick “Dentist” Tan (both Y2) were ready for their very first IFG campaign. More on Maverick’s controversial callsign to follow.

Former captain Jyh Howe was also tasked to take up the unfamiliar role of setter, undergoing a one-month setter conversion crash course and thus compromising his chances of spiking during the games (much to his dismay). Norman “Paul Scholes” Aziz (Y5) also sensationally came out of quasi-retirement to help the team in light of the lack of numbers. 50% Malay, 50% Chinese, 100% commitment.

This year, we were yet again dealt a tough draw of fixtures, having to face SDE, Business, Medicine and Engineering. Although we were clear outsiders for the semi-finals, captain Shi Kai constantly reminded us that the aim of IFG was just to have fun (and not finish last).

SDE: 2-1 (28-26, 22-25, 15-13)

The day kicked off with a match against fellow outsiders SDE. With a national beach volleyballer among the SDE ranks, and with Norman later admitting that he only managed two hours of shuteye the night before, we were the clear underdogs for this match. Nevertheless, we went into the match unfazed and immensely thankful that the sports hall was no longer the sauna that it was last year.

The game turned out to be a frenetic, fast-paced affair which must have been a treat for the spectators. Spikers Shi Kai, Norman, Zixuan and Joshua were both potent in attack and feisty in defence. Jyh Howe also ended up doing more defensive work than setting, providing the cover for Kai Yan (playing as a subset for the first time) to score points with his impeccable badminton smashing technique. Perhaps, like last year, our attacks were so powerful that one of the balls exploded upon hitting the floor, explaining the mysterious disappearance of one of our volleyballs (again). Jyh Howe somehow also managed to pull off a one-handed set in this game for Norman, who duly scored the point with an accurate kill.

The scores were too close for comfort, with the first set finishing 26-28 in SDE’s favour and the second set finishing 25-22 in our favour. Both teams had fought tooth and nail for every point, and we had shown that we were no pushovers. In response, SDE shifted their star player from setter to middle spiker to finish the third set. Nevertheless, captain Shi Kai stepped up to the plate, pulling off a stunning block to deny their star player. Jyh Howe also managed to successfully receive one of his powerful spikes. Items off the bucket list for the both of us.

Despite our most valiant efforts, we fell agonisingly short, with the third set going 13-15 in favour of SDE. Nevertheless, many positives could be taken from our courageous display. SDE’s star player was even quoted by Shi Kai as saying “wah, shag” after the game — testimony to our incredible effort (although this statement is subject to the hearsay principle). Credit to SDE for giving us a fantastic game to look back on and hopefully build from.

Business: 2-0 (25-10, 25-7)

Having given our 110% for the previous game, it was no surprise that we were visibly jaded when we played our match against Biz, who were seeded second in the group. Shi Kai handed IFG debuts to Maverick, Jonny and Utsav in this game, and they showed admirable tenacity and were unfazed by the strength of the Biz team. Nevertheless, fatigue from the previous game took its toll, and we were eventually outclassed in straight sets.

Med: 0-2 (24-26, 11-25)

Having lost two games and fallen out of the running to make the semi-finals, our sole objective left was to emerge victorious against our old foes. At this point, our faithful supporter Yixi (Y1) had made her way down to lend her support for our big fixture, bringing Milo bars as sustenance for our boys. We thank her for her kind contributions to the team, even though Shi Kai remarked that he preferred Haagen-Dazs.

Going into the game on the back of two consecutive Lawmed victories, we were eager to record another victory today. However, as the adage goes, form goes out the window in huge rival matches like this. That certainly looked to be the case as Med got off to a flying start, racing to a 7-point lead faster than one could recite the Hippocratic Oath. Many unforced errors were made on our side, and the game eventually reached the point where it was 17-24 in Med’s favour. It seemed all but inevitable that Med would take the first set.

Spirits were low at our impending defeat, but like Steven Gerrard in 2005, captain Shi Kai was not quite ready to throw in the towel. Stepping up for service, he shrugged off the pressure and produced an expertly-hit serve from which Med eventually lost the point. With a sliver of hope restored but with still a long way to go, Shi Kai kept serving. As we kept racking up the points, hope turned into belief, as Med failed to score the decisive point. As it turned out the decisive point never came, and our boys seized the initiative and turned the game on its head, miraculously prevailing 26-24.

Undoubtedly inspired by our Istanbul-esque comeback in the first set, the tide had turned and the momentum stayed with us. We shored up our defence while producing some immaculate kills and blocks to rattle our opponents. Our subs and supporters also played a huge part in keeping our morale up on court — especially Utsav who kept shouting “holding” (a type of foul) every time Med touched the ball. At 24-11, the script was written for Zixuan to score the winning point for Law with a fierce spike — definitely a memory to cherish and take back home from his time in Singapore. And with that, Law emerged victorious once again.

Engineering: 2-0 (25-10, 25-15)

Having fulfilled our main objective of winning one game and with nothing left to play for, captain Shi Kai told us to simply “enjoy volleyball” in our last game against first-seeded Engin, one of the favourites to win the tournament.

It was not quite the frantic, end-to-end affair like the games against SDE and Biz, but Engin showed their credentials (even with a second-string team) and eventually prevailed in straight sets. Nevertheless, a 15-point haul from our second set was a good return for a hard day’s work. Highlights included well-placed kills from Zixuan, Joshua and Norman, Kai Yan working his socks off to receive Engin’s deftly-executed drops, and Shi Kai and Jyh Howe working together to block one of Engin’s spikes (although it still is hotly contested as to who contributed more to the block).

It was certainly an eventful day, but the drama did not stop there. One of the IFG officials later informed us that they had caught Maverick representing Dentistry in the other group of matches. TL;DR — Maverick was approached by a friend from Dentistry to play for one of their matches which they could not field enough players (resulting in a possible walkover). Completely in good faith and believing that Dentistry had informed the officials, Maverick agreed (and subsequently claimed misrepresentation).

This had no practical effect on either of the groups’ outcomes, since both Law and Dentistry did not qualify for the semi-finals (although Jeremy “USPlayer” Ng is still salty that USP’s victory against Dentistry was consequently void, leaving USP with no official wins). Nevertheless, rules are rules, and while we were punished with points deducted, Dentistry had it worse and were disqualified.

Nonetheless, this was but a small blip (we still love you Maverick!) on what proved to be a satisfactory day for us overall. While we did not make the semi-finals, we pushed a stronger team all the way and gave them a run for their money. We hope this campaign was a fitting send-off for Norman, who is now officially retired and eligible to claim his Long Service Award and pension fund, as well as Zixuan, who showed a great sense of humour in saying that Law would one day win IFG volleyball.

On that note, we would also like to thank our faithful supporters who turned up throughout the course of the day — faithful volleyball enthusiast Yixi, all-round great guy and fantastic videographer Rakesh (Y3), Kai Yan’s significant other Natasha (Y2), and Caleb (Y1) who had joined our team for trainings but was cup-tied for playing Tchoukball on the same weekend. Credits to Caleb too for taking photos of our games throughout the day.

To end, we have finally broken our annual IFG tradition of forgetting to take a team photo. Shi Kai has indeed proved to be an inspirational choice for captain, long may it continue.

 

Look forward to more action, more excitement and (possibly) more medals as we return again next week!