The usual captain and scribe was injured this week and Brennan took over the scribing duties. And a fine job he did too. His novella follows, complete with inter-active references to video clips…
I arrived at 6:30 to find their number 1, Frik on the court warming up, There was a sudden change from court 1 to court 2 because Phil noted the holes in court 1's wall was not cool.
Phil (playing number 1) got changed and hopped onto court 2 with Frik.
During the warm up I introduced myself to Jason who was a fill in from the 6th league who brought his easy-on-the-eyes girlfriend to cheer him on.
Jason said he should be playing 1 because he was coming down from 6th league, however Phil and Frik were warm and about to start.
This caused a conundrum which I made a call on and said it would be fine for Jason to play number to (aka me) *gulp*
So Phil's game got off to a start, of epic proportion1. I had just been handed a score sheet which was foreign to me, no blocks to hold my lead in to mark the server spot. Never the less Phil went on be 13 -5 down, only to come back to 13 all and the heat was on. The game reached a noyouwin-noyouwin status and finally settles on Phil being pipped 20 - 18. It took him most of the first game to figure out how to win points. Make Frik RUN! (funny that)
The second game Phil took 15 - 13. Frik was not a walkover yet. Even after giving the usual drill of advice "play deep and make him run" Frik took the 3rd 13- 15. More MakeYourOpponentRun advice was given, however it was not enough to get Frik to miss any of his deadly accurate shots. Frik won the 4th and final game 15 - 9 much to our dismay. However if you would like to witness Phil's last game taken with an iPhone and slightly bad filming have a look here.
http://qik.com/video/2756441
I took the video hopping for an epic comeback but alas.
So now came my game, 9th league rookie vs 6th league wannabe. I went into the game with a the mindset of, "oh SH*T, oh well I have nothing to lose and nothing to show off let me just play my best." Jason had deadly accurate shots and a powerful swing. I could feel my heart beating going into it. I played with all my heart and managed to use my adrenalin to take the first game 15 - 12, oh hell lucky game I thought lets see if I could do it again in the next. Jason had the skill but no BMT (That's Big Match Temperament). He made careless errors giving my hopeful eye the benefit. His cursing and yelling at his own bad shots gave me the edge. I took the second game 15 - 9. Jason was barely panting and I being the sightly unfit one needed my allotted time to try and catch my breath. I was now tired and maybe a bit cocky now that I was 2 up on a higher league fill in. My fitness struck home and the 3rd I lost 11 - 15 :(. Jason's Shots were getting more accurate and he was making less errors. He took the next 15 - 6. Steph gave me some good advice, "play hard backhand", he kept making mistakes on that one. With a renewed sense of ambition I went into my typical 5th game with 1 thing on my my mind... backhand hard and tight. Before I knew it I was 8 - 0 up and my blood was pumping with the hope of a win( and other things) I forced a few strokes, played a few deep backhands and before I knew it it I was 2 points away from a victory when a slip in the front right put a sharp pain in my achilies tendon. I took 30 seconds to see if it was game stopping or not.
13 - 9, 2 points to go, a pain in the foot. The pain was not enough to hold me back. I quickly took the last 2 points to seal the deal to end my notorious 5 setter in style. I think the slight pause at the end may have ruined his concentration. 15 - 9 a 3 - 2 victory. woohoo!
Next Steph was up vs Sergio, with his killer drops and great cross courts he nailed the first game 15 - 11 which can be watched here:
http://qik.com/video/2757106
It was at this point I could feel the sign of victory in the air. I wish I could give more of an account of Steph's game but I gt lured across to Court 1 to score.
Steph Went on to literally kill Sergio in classic Steph style, accurate drop shots and not without some good opposition.
Naren earned his 9th league stripes in style as he skillfully played deceiving shots off the wall and put them out of reach of Malcolm many, many many many times. Malcolm had some great game play but his fitness and running was not there. Naren took a straight set victory which was a pleasure to watch.
Summarised scores:
Phil Alves vs Frik Hannekom 18 -20 15-13 13-15 13-15 (1-3)
Brennan Babb vs Jason 15-12 15-9 11-15 6-15 15-9 (3-2)
Steph Stephansen vs Sergio Massimiam 15-11 15-13 15-7 (3-0)
Naren Solanki vs Malcolm Pipe 15-11 15-13 15-7 (3-0)
Final result :13 - 5
