Once again UEL had to surrender two games before the match had begun as they could only field five players, but this didn’t stop them pulling off a remarkable win.
Sean Wilson kicked the game off for UEL with an emphatic 21-4, 21-6 demolishing of his opponent with ease as it looked like he wasn’t even trying as his ability shone through in this encounter.
Positive Start
Ali Chin and Marco Eng followed the Jamaican’s performance with a dominant victory for themselves. They brushed aside the Queen Mary second doubles pair aside, 21-9 and 21-10 ending each rally as fast as possible.
George Geaves and Joshua Teoh then took part in an enthralling game with Queen Mary’s first pair. The hosts won the first set 21-18 but Geaves and Teoh clawed themselves back in the game and won the second set 21-13 after a team talk from the team which motivated the pair.
Unfortunately, they could not capitalise on this and capitulated in the last set which finished 21-8 to the home team as UEL ran out of steam in the final set.
Victory in Sight?
Sean Wilson then took to court and once again showed his irresistible quality, winning his second game 21-13 and 21-9 as he hardly broke a sweat in either game he played.
The Blues were now in a position to pull off a wonderful victory as the score was 3-3 at this point only needing one point to draw and two to win.
The scores were level going into the final two games which saw the two doubles pairs from each team fight it out for a result.
Deciding Games
Chin and Eng edged their first set 21-19 which seemed a lot closer than it was. The UEL pair were 19-11 up and relaxed a bit too much but managed to scrape over the line during the first set.
Concentration was restored as Chin and Eng were able convincingly win 21-6 in their final set as the Queen Mary pair looked frightened of UEL’s direct and aggressive play. This ensured UEL had at least a point to go back to SportsDock with.
It was down to Geaves and Teoh to secure the win but in the first set they were beaten 14-21. With victory slipping away the pair fought valiantly to take the second set 21-17 and they capped off a battling performance with a comfortable 21-11 win in the final set.
Happy Captain
Chin was delighted with his team’s performance and he told Rising East after the game: “I thought we were great value for the win and we really pulled together as a team having one less player.”
UEL have finally put an end to their wait for the first three points of the season and the result means they can kick on and put breathing space between them and relegation.
The team now has a three-week break before they face Queen Mary 3rd team again at SportsDock where they will look to replicate this heroic performance.