IHRG Update – Chinese Chess

JANUARY 7 2009

The Hall 4 Chinese Chess Team, finalists at last year’s Inter-Hall Recreation Games Tournament, will not be seeded in next year’s tournament. This follows a dismal showing in the hall’s best shot to win a medal in the recreational games tournament, as Chinese Chess is indeed its strongest segment.

While the team managed to win 3 halls, it drew 2 games and lost against 2 other halls, thereby only managing to win a quarter-finals placing but not the semi-finals.

However, all is not lost as this year’s team is predominantly made up of junior players, who will definitely display marked improvement following more intense training over the next year. We will certainly be back much stronger next year!

Marked Improvement Despite Dismal Showing

JANUARY 2 2008
- WALTER

It was another electrifying day of IHRG action at the Hall 8 Multi-Purpose Court. This time, it was the word game BOGGLE being the order of the day.

It came as no surprise that HALL IV was unseeded for the BOGGLE competition, given that the hall has traditionally not been strong in word games. In fact, as team player Vanessa (who featured last year as well) mentioned, HALL IV only managed to win one out of 35 sets in the previous year’s competition.

In the end, the HALL IV team of Charlene (team manager), myself (team captain), Huishan, Vanessa, Ming Shi, Alex and Ye Wee failed to buck the trend this year, having lost all seven of its games. However, there is a silver lining for consolation.

We managed to display marked improvement indeed – taking eight out of 35 sets this time round (I won 3 sets, Alex won 2, while Huishan, Vanessa and Ye Wee won 1 set each). It was a really close fight for us against Hall 8 too, where we took the game to the mire, going down two sets to three. The spread was even positive in our favour despite the loss!

All sixteen halls were separated into two groups of eight halls each. Each hall has to play against seven other halls over the course of the day’s competition, to determine the halls which would advance into the semi-finals. Each game consists of five sets each.

*****
Personal Note: Charlene and I, the team manager and captain of the HALL IV Boggle team, would like to thank all our players for sacrificing their time during these holidays for the training sessions and the game itself. For spending much last-minute effort trying to cram as many three-letter words as possible. For displaying undying spirit and vigour throughout despite the odds being stacked against us. Thank you! Also, thanks to Jian Li and Xi Wen for all the help and support you’ve provided throughout the months!

We will (try to) be back a stronger team next year.

Fierce Scrabble Action @ Hall 8 MPH

DECEMBER 30 2008
- Walter

A sea of blue jerseys swamped Hall 8’s multi-purpose court both yesterday and today as Hall IV was the convening hall for the Inter-Hall Recreational Game of Scrabble, providing quintessential help as table umpires, word checkers, and score tabulators.

In the meantime, however, despite the raucous support present, the odds were stacked against the Hall IV Scrabble team. The Hall IV team managed to win 3 out of 7 games during IHRG 07/08, and were looking to build on the momentum by improving on its streak. Yet, Hall IV is precisely not known for its vocabulary prowess, nor was it renowned for being strong in recreational games in general. Hence, it was with a light-hearted gait and demeanour that our players took the arena with, without any expectations to live up to. Every game won against our opponents was perhaps a bonus.

The Scrabble team comprised of both experienced players in the form of team captain Vanessa, team manager Hui Shan, Daniel, Andrew, James, Yew Chong as well as Prof Brian, as well as freshmen like myself, Hau Kim and Mark Teo.

In the end, we managed to win only 1 out of the 7 preliminary games this season. While the team started strong, winning Hall 2 four sets to one in its opening match, Hall IV failed to capitalise on its winning momentum as it met stronger (and perhaps luckier) opponents in its corresponding matches. It lost all its other six matches one set to four, with the exception of its final game against Hall 9, where it lost nil to five.

Yet it is with pride that our players took the game down to the wire with most of its opponents, with the spread merely marginal during defeat.

We believe that the Hall IV scrabble team will bounce back strongly during the next IHRG season!

[Ed: As a sidenote, congratulations to Hall 6 for eventually winning the Scrabble competition against Hall 12. It was really a closely-fought battle. And as the umpire for the crucial final set with the score tied at 2-2 between Hall 6 and Hall 12, I was really on the edge of my seat as the game was so close and could swing either way. Kudos to Hall 12 for the close fight too!]

IHRG Update – Darts

DECEMBER 22, 2008
- Kelvin 

The Hall IV Darts team played a total of four matches today, namely against the Darts team from Hall 5, Hall 6, Hall 7 and Hall 16.

Despite an afternoon of intense competition, lady luck was certainly not smiling on Hall 4 as the Darts team failed to overcome all four of their opponents. Hall 4 was close to winning a couple of matches, though our opponents were certainly much luckier than us today.

In spite of the defeat, the spirit of the Hall IV darts team was high, with all our players enjoying themselves in the first day of the Darts competition. Even though Hall 4 failed to perform well today, we believe that the team will strive for better results during the second day of the tournament, despite qualification for the semi-finals looking like a long shot.

The second day of the Darts competition will feature three more preliminary rounds, and will commence at 1200hrs at the Hall 8 Multi-Purpose Court.

IHG Update: Carrom & Basketball/F (v Hall 10)

MELVIN LIM

Hall IV’s debutante day of Carrom matches began at 12pm at the Hall 8 Multi-Purpose Court.

Our players, involving the following lineup:

Men’s Singles – Ah Boon

Women’s Singles – Simin
Women’s Doubles – Isabelle & Yee Hwee

Men’s Doubles – Gary & Chun Rong
Mixed Doubles – Mabel & Yew Han

Despite the numerous training sessions Hall IV’s team had undergone in preparation for the IHRG matches, luck was not on our player’s sides, and we were no match for our opponents today. In the end, we lost against all the four halls we played against today.

However, a second day of Carrom action awaits tomorrow, same time, same place, so all is not lost for Hall IV. We wish our Carrom players all the best!

Even more basketball action reigned the NIE Basketball Court, following Hall IV’s male team victory earlier in the day. This being the Loser Pool match, it was make or break for our Hall IV female basketball team, who require a win to proceed to its third preliminary match. Lose, and Hall IV will experience an early knockout in the competition.

The female basketball team is made up predominantly of players in the female softball team, who had to rush over from the SRC Softball Field following their match against Hall 7 earlier, which ended 0-14. The players are: Lu Bin, Pei Yu, Shaline, Sharmin, Priscilla, Winnie and Li Yan.

With our opponents, Hall 10, in the same position as us, a lot was at stake to proceed in the competition. Unfortunately, our team’s hunger and will to win proved insufficient in the face of fatigue and our opponent’s ever-changing tactics and formations.

The final score was Hall 4 (19) - Hall 10 (56). Despite the loss, Hall IV’s players deserve a round of applause for all their efforts and determination.

IHRG Update: Snooker – WE’RE THRU TO THE QUARTERS TO BE HELD ON MONDAY!!!

December 12, 2008

The day dawned bright and early in the fourth day of competition with an intense match of snooker between Hall 4 and Hall 7 at Nanyang House.

The first game is between Yong Hsin of Hall IV and Francis of Hall 7. A relatively easy game for us, as Yong Hsin did not trail behind the entire game. Despite playing with an injured left foot, Yong Hsin played in a dominating fashion combining skills, power and accuracy. The final score line is 36:15.

 

Second game is between Wei Sheng from Hall4 and Song Wei from Hall7. Just like the first game, the Hall4 player dominated the game throughout. Song Wei tried to force a comeback in the late stage of the game, however, the cool strikes from Wei Sheng denied any challenges and the final score is 66:49

Third game is Yew Han from Hall4 versus Jonathan from Hall7. Despite trailing largely in the early game, Yew Han surged in mid game trying to catch up. However, Jonathan finished a couple of key strikes. Final score is 43:64

 

In the Fourth game, both players, Alvin from Hall4 and Jeremy from Hall7 didn’t have the best game. Errors and mistakes led to the low scoring and final score is 5:21, the Hall4 player lost out.

 

In the decisive fifth game, Mark from Hall4 was trailed far at behind at the beginning. However, 3 consequent fouls made by the Hall7 player Benjamin gifted Mark the chance to force a comeback. Since then Mark hit another couple of key strikes and was never trailed. The thrilling game ended 40:30.

Winning the match against Hall Seven 3 sets to 2 was a real morale-boost for our players, as the victorious Hall IV Snooker team then proceeded to play against Hall 12.

AND Hall IV won the later match against Hall 12 3:1 to move on to the quarter finals!

 Great job to our snooker players!

 

- Kai Wen

[ED: Congratulations to our Hall IV Snooker Players for a job well done!]

IHRG Updates – Othello

The buzz of expectancy could be felt at Hall 8’s MPC as Othello players gathered and prepared to do battle on the boards.

The different halls were separated into 2 groups, A and B. Hall 4 was drawn into group A which boasted the likes of Hall 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 12. Each hall were to have 5 games of othello against another hall and the best of the 5 games would be declared the victor. Finish top 2 and proceed into the semi-finals. In total, a brain-sapping 35 games of othello had to be played by each team.

The Ohmers (led by Lam Ai Jia, consisted of Lam Shao Ming, Wee Kai Fa, Ngoh Chun Rong, Wei Qiang, Kelvin Lim and Long Jiren) were off to a bright start, winning Hall 2, three games to two.

In our second match, we were outmuscled (or outbrained) by Hall 6, five games to none.

Lunchbreak proved to be a timely respite as we responded with victories over Halls 5 (three games to two) and 8 (four games to one).

Hall 9 crushed our hopes of adding on to the streak, beating us five games to none.

We fought back and overcame Hall 12, beating them three games to two.

By then, the Ohmers were already out of the contention of qualifying, as Halls 6 and 9 had confirmed their places in the semi-finals. Still, we were determined to finish the group in the best possible position so we had to win our next fixture, Hall 7. They were in the same position as us, also requiring a victory to finish the group as third.

Drama was abound as our first four players finished their games, tying the score at 2-2. It was down to Shao Ming to help Hall 4 finish third. A bizarre turn of events saw the last game ending in a draw. We were tied with Hall 7 at third place, with 2 wins, 2 losses and a draw in that fixture. Fate smiled upon us when the judges decided to award the game to us, as we had recorded a victory in the first game over Hall 7, thanks to Kai Fa, in no small part.

Ohmers finished the group third, heads held high. Well done, Ohmers!

- Derek