ACS(I) end seven-year C Div squash drought
Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) showed grit and determination as they defeated Fairfield Methodist School in the National Schools C Division boys' squash final at Kallang Squash Centre yesterday.
ACS(I) narrowly pipped Fairfield 3-2 to win their first C Division squash title since 2010.
Daven Wong gave Fairfield the lead with a hard-earned 3-2 (8-11, 6-11, 11-2, 11-6, 11-7) comeback win over Benjamin Koh in the opening match.
But ACS(I) hit back with a vengeance, stringing three consecutive wins through Kan Weng Yean (3-1), Joshua Lim (3-1) and Edward Thng (3-0) to secure the crown.
Gabriel Chow scored a consolation win for Fairfield by defeating Samuel Lau 3-1 in the dead rubber match.
Despite seeing Benjamin lose the first game, ACS(I) coach Victor Koh was impressed with the Secondary 1 student's fighting spirit, which set the tone for the team for the rest of the afternoon.
Said the 55-year-old: "Benjamin has played his opponent before, and he lost 3-0 every time.
"Today, he managed to win the first two sets of this match.
"None of us expected him to even take a set, so it was truly a credible performance."
Even after his loss, Benjamin was confident his team would bounce back.
The 12-year-old said: "The pace was really fast and I couldn't cope.
"I lost my match but I had faith in my teammates that we would still win."
ACS(I) captain Weng Yean, 13, feels that the team reaped the rewards of their hard work and tenacity.
The delighted Secondary 2 student said: "We finally broke the medal drought after seven years.
"The whole team are ecstatic. We've trained hard for this and we finally got it.
"We're going to continue to work on our skills and improve our game."
In the fight for third place yesterday, Raffles Institution overcame National Junior College 3-2.
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