By Zara Nicole Toh (13A01B), Jeremy Yew (13A01B) and Jonathan Tan (13A01C)
Photos by Claudia Koh, Tiffany Ow and Naman Shah from Raffles Photographic Society
Organised by the Touch Rugby girls, IHC Touch Rugby was certainly the place to be for high-speed entertainment, kicking off at the main field on a grey Friday evening. The boy’s results were pretty mixed, with many teams having both draws and wins, and no clear-cut leader. On the other hand, the BW girls dominated that Friday with 3 wins out of 3 matches. Unfortunately, the contrast was stark between the weather and the hyped-up atmosphere, enthusiastic players and a strong showing of supporters; dark clouds rolled in throughout the entire afternoon. Halfway through the matches, the heavens opened up and rain poured down with such a purpose that the games had to be postponed to Monday evening.
By Jonathan Tan (13A01C)
Photos by Nandaru Annabil, Zhi Xuan and Edwin Chow from Raffles Photographic Society
Day 3 of IHC sports saw three sports being contested, namely Tennis, Swimming/Water polo and Basketball, which was the main event held at the newly opened indoor basketball arena.
The Basketball event was hotly contested in the Boys’ category, with the rules allowing for current players to participate in addition to many ex-players who had since quit Basketball since coming to Year 5—it set up an exciting encounter for all 5 houses.
Wee Xuan (BB) and Melvin (MT) raise their hands in unison to keep the basketball suspended in midair with their combined forcefield, while everyone looks on in awe.
Similarly, the competition on the Girls’ side was equally physical and demanding, with the 5-a-side full court format resulting in breathtaking end-to-end play that exhausted players and required constant substitution to get fresh legs into the game.
The power of the forcefield can only hold up for so long.
For the Boys’ event, BW wrapped up 1st place convincingly with victories in all of their round-robin matches, boosted by a good mix of ex-basketball players and a slew of key members in the current school team line-up. As for the 2nd and 3rd places, MR and MT were tied after the four round-robin matches and thus had to enter a playoff game to decide the overall standings.
This match was undoubtedly one of the most physical matches as both sides pressed hard, determined not to give their opponents any time on the ball or any opportunity to aim a shot properly. BW supporters decked in yellow were vocal in their unabashed support for MT, because a Morrison victory would have ensured that the overall title for basketball for both genders would go to MR.
While the MR-MT decider was played out, the Girls’ final was being concluded on the adjacent court. Due to a two-way tie for 1st place, the ensuing free throw playoff saw MR emerging victorious over HH—everyone’s attention were keenly fixed on the remaining Boys’ match.
The real action of the match came in the last minute, when key plays were executed. With about a minute or so to go on the clock, MT scored a go-ahead goal through Alexzander Loh to lead by 2, only for MR’s Zheng Shun to tie the game up again with a quick reply.
Alex Loh then scored again to give MT the lead, but MR came roaring back, as Zheng Shun not only equalised once again, but scored another layup on a fast break to take a precious lead. With seconds remaining on the clock, MR defended strongly and managed to hold on to win the game, placing MR as overall champions for basketball.
MR vs. MT – Physical and competitive on court, but all smiles off court :)Daniel Sebastian (MR) and Wee Xuan (BB) execute “criss-cross dance style” with some ball tricks in the middle to leave the MR bench ogling.Yao Zhong (HH) tries to dribble around the BW defender, but he is unaware of the BW’s player’s attempted ninja skills in sneaking up on him.Dawne (MR) shields the ball from BW opposition.
In addition to Basketball, Day 3 also saw two other events being contested, namely Tennis and Swimming/Water polo.
The referee spins the racket to decide who starts the doubles match between MT and BW.Ekdanai (HH) reaching out for the sky—a nice pose while performing an overhead serve.Daniel (BW) confronting his opponent with a fiercely focused face.Benjamin (BW) rises high above the water to block a shot……but here he is powerless to stop an effort from going in.Shayna (BW) tries to take possession of the ball while her opponent takes an underwater breather.IHC Swimming certainly made a splash!
Being confronted with the national flag at every turn for the past month or so should have clued you in, but here it is anyway: our illustrious motherland turns forty-seven in a couple of days.
Tomorrow, Raffles Institution will be celebrating our nation’s 47th birthday with a concert featuring the usual suspects—Chinese dance, Raffles Rock, et al.—a familiar litany of performers. Overall sentiment seems to be grudging: why should one be required to stay back in school to celebrate a nation that one will leave at the drop of an A-level certificate for posh universities abroad? Then again, seeing as this gives us an extra day off, you have to admit that this is a pretty sweet deal. And speaking of sweet deals, our trusty councillors have been selling muffins and Koi bubble tea at cost price to try and generate hype.
IHC Day 4 kicked off with a line-up of only one event: Girls’ Soccer. This ensured that the attention of all the supporters would be centred on the main field as the girls from each house battled it out to prove that girls too can play soccer.
Please Mind the Platform Gap is a fortnightly column aimed at preparing Year 4 RI and RGS students for the challenges of JC life. Written by Year 5s from Raffles Press who have “been there, done that”, each piece covers a different aspect of life “on the other side”. This week, we bring you the truth on the dating scene in JC.
By Kimberley Yeo (13S05B)
No more sneaking around Far East Plaza or Junction 8 required, kids: JC brings Rafflesians together in more ways than one. For many of us, most interactions have been limited to schoolmates, and some have even spent all ten of their schooling years in single-sex institutions. Fortunately, however, the beauty of the Integrated Programme means that friendships remain solidly intact within the same school campus. One may be overwhelmed by the loud, oblivious boys or the giggly yet aloof girls, but most of us will still have our old schoolmates nearby. (Along this same thread, spare a thought for your new non-Raffles Programme friends who have had their close friends spread across the island and are now faced with the daunting task of meeting 1,200 new faces.)
