ACS(I) clinch fifth straight C Division boys’ tennis title
Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) may have reigned supreme in the last four C Division boys’ tennis tournaments, but going into the final in these National School Games on Aug 13, they considered themselves as the underdogs.
Not only did they lose twice to St Joseph’s Institution (SJI) in the earlier rounds in 2024, but captain Dylan Chan’s freak spinal injury a week earlier compounded matters ahead of the deciding clash.
With his chances of facing their arch-rivals in serious doubt, the gritty 14-year-old went on a regimen of rehabilitation under a physiotherapist involving two hours of stretching daily to relieve the back pain.
On Aug 13, Dylan proved his mettle as he gave ACS(I) an unassailable 3-0 lead after a gruelling match against SJI captain Justin Lie at the Kallang Tennis Centre.
It was an intense game which became a battle of attrition as both players pushed themselves physically over the 2hr 38min tie before Justin retired with severe cramp while trailing 7-5, 6-7 (4-7), 1-2.
ACS(I) went on to win the final 4-1 for their fifth consecutive title, after victories in 2018, 2019, 2022 and 2023.
The Games were cancelled in 2020 while the C Division competition was not held in 2021.
Dylan, who took painkillers in the morning of the final, told The Straits Times: “In the first set, I already felt my left hamstring hurting and took a medical timeout.
“But I decided to push on and just play. I didn’t go in expecting to win since I’ve lost to Justin multiple times. I just went there to play my heart out.”
The Secondary 2 student added: “Like Justin, I was about to cramp, but he just cramped earlier. It would have been nicer if we could have fought it out in the last set, but a win is a win.
“After all that hard work, it feels great to win. It’s great for all my teammates too. We had a good line-up, it feels fantastic after losing to them twice.”
Joshua Kuan, who beat Elias Siirtola 6-4, 6-2, and the doubles pair of Andre Lee and Miles Teo, who downed Cedric Tan and Asher Sandhu 6-2, 6-2, had put ACS(I) 2-0 up.
After Dylan’s heroics, doubles duo Takuya Kaneko and Brennon Ng clinched SJI’s sole point with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Emmanuel Suripin and Koh Heng Kai.
Matthew Tay then overcame Raphael Goh 6-1, 6-2.
The result was in contrast to the meetings between the two rivals this season when SJI won 5-0 in May’s pool stage and 3-2 in the league round in July.
Andre and Miles attributed their win to their teamwork.
Miles said: “We’re quite close to each other, so it was very easy to keep going with the match.”
Andre added: “We always plan out the points before we start and tell each other what we are going to try to do.”
ACS(I) coach Ang Hock Chai, 56, hailed the players’ never-give-up attitude as he upped their training sessions from two to at least three or four times a week in preparation for the final.
He said: “We just tell them to relax and play. Play one point at a time until the end, and we will know the results at the end.”
SJI’s Takuya, 12, was upbeat despite the loss, saying: “Although we didn’t get the outcomes we wanted, I think that all of us did great and we really tried our best.”
His doubles partner Brennon, 14, added: “It was a good fight, and next year we will come back stronger.”
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