SINGAPORE END OF SEASON TOUR By David Cross
At the beginning of June, 25 of the Squash Sections finest departed for the foreign shores of Asia’s Lion City.
Day One …
Last minute illness and injuries meant that Graham Mountford sadly would not get past the airport and similarly Dean Thompson and Nick Organ had swapped their squash rackets for their big lenses.
Several of the tour party opted for the more civilized late morning flight sporting the rather colourful Squash Section blazers!
Checking in at the Orchard Hotel, very conveniently located for both the American and Tanglin Club, we dumped our luggage and strolled over to the American Club (AMC) for match one. This was the third time we had faced AMC in 2 years following two home fixtures things stood at 1 apiece. We were not really prepared for what hit us, losing the home advantage of the luxury of our courts in ambient temperature and switching to a sweltering 35c on courts situated outside the main club minus aircon, we began to wish we had trained for the past two months in the sauna or with the aircon switched off!
Some players suffered more than others, Leo Kwok (absent member) flying in from Bali had clearly not been taking his training seriously as he needed a helping hand to stay hydrated and cool down.
The welcome was very hospitable and matches were competitive and played in the best of spirits. Our advanced party lead by tour convenor Nathan L’Huillier got us off to a winning start 6.5 – 3 after a few matches . The second grouping which contained Men’s Captain Julian Tanner and Chairman DC managed to keep us in the driving seat 12.5 – 8.5.
Finally the third grouping consisting of Ladies Captain in waiting Emma Duncombe putting in a valiant effort against a strong opponent and the heavy weight battle in which Nige Steffensen came away with the belt as we got off to a flying start with a final score of 18.5 to 13.
|
AMC |
|
|
HKFC |
AMC PTS |
HKFC PTS |
|
ZAINAL ABIDIN |
0 |
2 |
NATHAN L'HUILLIER |
0 |
1 |
|
JAMES NG |
1 |
2 |
MARTIN MROSEK |
0.5 |
1 |
|
ABESH GHALE |
0 |
2 |
STUART GATES |
0 |
1 |
|
RODUSEK NICHOLAS |
2 |
0 |
EDWARD GRIFFITHS |
1 |
0 |
|
GAUTAM GOEL |
1 |
2 |
NICK STEARN |
0.5 |
1 |
|
PHUA SWEE LENG |
0 |
2 |
BARRY MCALINDEN |
0 |
1 |
|
ASHWINI BAKSHI |
2 |
1 |
ARUN KIRPALANI |
1 |
0.5 |
|
TAN ENG SUN |
0 |
2 |
FREDERIC TENG |
0 |
1 |
|
TROND KYRKJEBOE |
1 |
2 |
COLIN OWEN |
0.5 |
1 |
|
JAMES SPALDING |
2 |
0 |
JULIAN TANNER |
1 |
0 |
|
SEAN ANG |
2 |
1 |
LEO KWOK |
1 |
0.5 |
|
WOON KWONG |
0 |
2 |
DAVE CHAMPION |
0 |
1 |
|
ABESH GHALE (2nd) |
1 |
2 |
DAVE CROSS |
0.5 |
1 |
|
DAVE NISHBALL |
0 |
2 |
BARRY MCALINDEN (2nd) |
0 |
1 |
|
HARVEY GLICK |
2 |
0 |
STEVE GOLLOP |
1 |
0 |
|
MURPHY MLES |
1 |
2 |
KRZYSZTOF KOSTIENKO |
0.5 |
1 |
|
JULIUS DYAS |
2 |
1 |
STUART GATES (2nd) |
1 |
0.5 |
|
STEVE BLENCOWE |
0 |
2 |
COLIN OWEN |
0 |
1 |
|
MOHIT LALVANI |
2 |
0 |
HARRY THIND |
1 |
0 |
|
SHAUN BENGER |
2 |
1 |
EMMA DUNCOMBE |
1 |
0.5 |
|
SHIVAZ RAI |
1 |
2 |
KRZYSZTOF KOSTIENKO (2nd) |
0.5 |
1 |
|
RODUSEK NICHOLAS (2nd) |
2 |
1 |
DALLAS REID |
1 |
0.5 |
|
TREVOR CHARON |
1 |
2 |
NIGE STEFFENSEN |
0.5 |
1 |
|
JAMES SPALDING (2nd) |
1 |
2 |
NATHAN L'HUILLIER (2nd) |
0 |
1 |
|
JULIUS DIAS (2nd) |
1 |
2 |
DAVE CROSS (2nd) |
0.5 |
1 |
|
|
|
TOTAL POINTS |
13 |
18.5 |
Buffet dinner, prize giving and then a trip to the Club Union bar, complete with popcorn, though Nathan couldn’t grasp the concept that the popcorn was for eating rather than for the floor!
All done by midnight and after great hospitality from our friends at the AMC we headed back to the hotel, some choosing to head on after in what surely was not ideal match preparation for day two!
Day two …
A relaxing start to the day for most as matches were not due to start until 3pm. Several people taking the opportunity to do some shopping, others gathering by the pool consuming sports drinks although the odd person indulging a little too freely in something stronger.
3pm and two buses arrived and we were split up as a group of our more experienced players headed to the British Club (BC) whilst the remainder headed to Singapore Cricket Club (SCC).
At the British Club …
This match had been pitched as British Lions versus Hong Kong Footballers, and each player would play 2 matches each.
The weather had decided to notch up to around 40c, still lacking aircon, with the back of the courts facing the sun and a very late night for some we didn’t feel all that confident. It was perhaps a little unfortunate that our tour shirts were black/pink and lime , but we had to wear them today as they could be a step too far for Tanglin’s all white policy!
Baring in mind we hadn’t brought anyone with us that was playing above division 8, it was a little surprising and worrying to see the brother of Keith Frith (HKFC Div 3), warming up on court, and sure enough he was a last minute replacement to play the first match. So, Stuart Gates was on court first and not surprisingly got us off to a 0-2 start, this set the pattern for the rest of the top order, Nick Stearn (who had already acquired the nickname bambi due to his less than steady balance was feeling the affects of day one) managed the same return, then Nige Steffensen keen to get one over on absent member Martin Huxley recorded another 0-2, so not looking great. DC up next and looking to set a good example won the first game against another HKFC absent member Anurag 15-5 but then was crushed to a 1-2 defeat and so to the rest of the team with all to do did us proud, Fred Teng, Colin Owen, Steve Gollop and Barry Maclinden all chalked up wins with Mark Sutcliffe narrowly losing out 1-2 so the deficit reduced to 4-5.
Starting the second round, Nick again struggling to move was off court pretty quickly and looking battered but still managing a smile!
Stuart winning 2-0, DC 1-2 and Nige 0-2 going down again as we slipped to 5-8. Again it was left to the lower order with Colin, Steve, Barry and Mark for the first time nudging us ahead 9-8. So all that was left was for Fred to bring home the win, going down in the first game which had British Club rushing for the calculators and it emerged that on count back if Fred won one game we would win 22-21, this was relayed to Fred who put his all into the second game and brought it home before losing the final game in quick succession.
So, that was it 9-9 and 22-21 on count back HKFC the winners, but then, a locker room discussion between a few of HKFC players and it emerged there was some small print and count backs had been replaced by a boat race. Several hours later, and full on curry and tiger beers, feeling confident, the idea of a boat race popped up but as the British Club guys had started to fade away, we opted for an honorable draw which could be settled my way of a rematch hopefully on home soil later in the year.
|
BRITISH LIONS |
|
|
HKFC |
AMC PTS |
HKFC PTS |
|
NEIL FRITH |
2 |
0 |
STUART GATES |
1 |
0 |
|
NICK FELL |
2 |
0 |
NICK STEARN |
1 |
0 |
|
MARTIN HUXLEY |
2 |
0 |
NIGE STEFFENSEN |
1 |
0 |
|
ANURAG MATHUR |
2 |
1 |
DAVE CROSS |
1 |
0 |
|
LIAM DOUGLAS |
1 |
2 |
FREDERIC TENG |
0 |
1 |
|
BEN KIGGELL |
1 |
2 |
COLIN OWEN |
0 |
1 |
|
KEITH CARPENTER |
2 |
1 |
MARK SUTCLIFFE |
1 |
0 |
|
RICHARD OFFER |
0 |
2 |
STEVE GOLLOP |
0 |
1 |
|
DAMIAN GLENDINNING |
0 |
2 |
BARRY MCALINDEN |
0 |
1 |
|
CRAIG TEMMER |
2 |
0 |
NICK STEARN |
1 |
0 |
|
NICK FELL |
0 |
2 |
STUART GATES |
0 |
1 |
|
MARTIN HUXLEY |
2 |
1 |
DAVE CROSS |
1 |
0 |
|
ANURAG MATHUR |
2 |
0 |
NIGE STEFFENSEN |
1 |
0 |
|
LIAM DOUGLAS |
0 |
2 |
COLIN OWEN |
0 |
1 |
|
BEN KIGGELL |
2 |
1 |
FREDERIC TENG |
1 |
0 |
|
KEITH CARPENTER |
1 |
2 |
STEVE GOLLOP |
0 |
1 |
|
RICHARD OFFER |
0 |
2 |
BARRY MCALINDEN |
0 |
1 |
|
DAMIAN GLENDINNING |
0 |
2 |
MARK SUTCLIFFE |
0 |
1 |
|
|
21 |
22 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
TOTAL POINTS |
9 |
9 |
As we prepared to leave the very friendly hospitality of the BC to head back to rejoin our fellow tourists reports were coming in from SCC that were not so encouraging….
Some players giving it everything such as Dave Champion who was rewriting the rulebook of Squash as a contact sport whereas KK had decided to make the most of the local refreshments!
The team eventually succumbed to a stronger and fresher SCC side and all that was left was to enjoy the hospitality and the spectacular view from the roof tops.
|
SCC |
|
|
HKFC |
AMC PTS |
HKFC PTS |
|
BEN |
3 |
0 |
KRZYSZTOF KOSTIENKO |
1 |
0 |
|
RAHUL |
0 |
3 |
LEO KWOK |
0 |
1 |
|
STUART |
0 |
3 |
JULIAN TANNER |
0 |
1 |
|
MABEL |
2 |
1 |
EMMA DUNCOMBE |
1 |
0 |
|
DAVE M |
3 |
0 |
DALLAS REID |
1 |
0 |
|
TC |
0 |
3 |
ARUN KIRPALANI |
0 |
1 |
|
JAMES |
2 |
1 |
JULIAN TANNER |
1 |
0 |
|
SAM |
2 |
1 |
MARTIN MROSEK |
1 |
0 |
|
ELEANOR |
2 |
1 |
HARRY THIND |
1 |
0 |
|
MOHIT |
2 |
1 |
EDWARD GRIFFITHS |
1 |
0 |
|
GENEVIEVE |
3 |
0 |
RACHEL SUTCLIFFE |
1 |
0 |
|
REUBAN |
2 |
1 |
DAVE CHAMPION |
1 |
0 |
|
UDAI |
3 |
0 |
NATHAN L'HUILLIER |
1 |
0 |
|
|
24 |
15 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
TOTAL POINTS |
10 |
3 |
After leaving our respective venues we headed back to the hotel, dumped our now very sweaty and smelly kit bags and we headed to Robertson Quay to rendezvous at the Boomerang bar. Bit by bit we got our numbers up towards 20 as we mixed stories about the two matches. A few no-shows with various excuses, exhaustion, aches and pains and so on, surely on future tours such behavior will result in fines and penalties being imposed. Finishing at the Murphys bar back in the hotel complex people slowly drifted away.
Day three …
People feeling a little more jaded than the previous day and with matches starting earlier at 10.30am it was not looking good for the tourists. We arrived at Tanglin Club to be greeted by two more familiar faces of absent members Mike Grey former stalwart and young Tom Chamberlain.
Some of our players were overcome by the events of the weekend and took the opportunity to catch up on some sleep whilst others made the best of the opportunity to play on the jumbo doubles courts.
A bit more informal than the previous two days we scribbled our names onto a white board and played against players of a similar level. Such was the informality of the match, it was really hard to figure out who actually won, HKFC looking like scoring more points in the singles matches, and then Tanglin more in Jumbo doubles and then some interesting accounting, I’d say it was a draw over all!
But the result not important, it was just nice to spend time with friends from another club that boasts a similar number of courts to HKFC and sample their take on another curry buffet.
After being well looked and all curried out, the first wave of tourists departed for home shores, as others remained for another night or two to sip Singapore Slings and with the talk already switching to possible locations for next seasons tour, Melbourne, Mumbai, Cairo and other far flung exotic places.