bLaCkIcE's Conundrum

End Of The Road........

Ever wondered y must the road tat we take... always come to an end?...There's a beginning and end to everything. No matter wat path we choose, we'll arrive at a conclusion sooner or later.... for the past 2 days..... i reached an end for 2 of my paths...... actually one in general..... the end of the road for me in Inter-Hall games.....hockey and sepak takraw.

Tuesday... 21st December 2004.......Being one of the top 4 teams for hockey in general opinion, my hall was rather unlucky.. to be in the same group with another 2 of the the top 4........ i dare say we are definitely on par if not better than the best... but luck plays a very important thing esp in a stupid pairing system tat makes no sense to me watsoever.....we have lost, we are out... nonetheless...... i'm glad to be part of the team... after all the tough and demanding trainings..... we can all take heart from the fact tat we played quality hockey .... not to mention that more than half of the team started out as beginners... alll credits to the captain and manager...and my team will always be the best in my heart... unlike some teams tat were so sucky n yet they managed to get into the next rounds... i'm not being sore... it's really true..... sometimes it's just not meant to be....

Wednesday ....22nd December 2004..... The long awaited day for me..... it's the quarterfinals for sepak takraw..... the match was against hall 4 ..... we have reached the quarters... our target has been met.... but i've never stop thinking tat the team has all it takes to reach the finals even.... I've seen with my own eyes.. the standard of the other teams..... and i truly believe my hall has one of the better teams around..... we have created history a week ago by becoming the first takraw team of hall 6 to get past the prelims..... but i still had a great desire to rewrite tat piece of history..... to become the first takraw team to reach the semi-finals and maybe even the finals!...... and so the match started... my hall managed to win the 1st regu(team) and so it's 1-0 to my hall ..... up step my regu... all we need was to win the game and we're in the semis.. my dream is just one step away...... and it was all in my regu(team)'s hand....... wasn't easy.....with all the hopes n expectations the entire team n the fanatic supporters lying on our shoulders... we pushed on... we're pretty confident as we've done well so far in the tournament...... everything went well until mid game...... a couple of close calls and a few mistakes by our team allowed the opponent to pull away by 3 points.... our confidence was dealt blow after blow by uncharacteristic mistakes on our part....soon.. the expectations became a burden... we had no reasons to lose the game.... we are the strongest regu in my hall and the opponent are in no way better than us.. it was just a case of who'll commit more mistakes in the match..... we couldn't muster enough mental strength to claw our way back into the match and duly lost the match 21-17... i was really down... not sure how to face the rest of the team.....the score stood at 1-1.. with the last regu as the decider...... it was then we realised tat our opponent had planned to give away the 1st point and gamble on the last 2 points...... in other words... my regu( the 2nd team) was the most crucial point...... had we won... our plan would have worked and the opponent's would have backfired..... i was crushed... seeing their strongest regu stepping up for the last and penultimate game... i was praying to all the God tat i could think of... "let my team prevail pls!! we dun deserve to lose!!" i cried out silently in my heart.... the match were very close.. my teammmates put up a good fight and managed to put some early pressure on the scores.. however... the opponent's quality soon showed and we lost the match 21-15....... the final score.. 2-1 to hall 4...... our supporters went silent, our heads hung low...... we are disappointed, we are heart broken, we are dejected...... it was a match we had in our hands..... it still puzzles me as to how we actually lost it....... even as i'm writing this post... i still find it difficult to accept.....

Now tat we have lost out in hockey and sepak takraw...... it also means tat i have reached the end of the road for this year's Inter Hall Games.... no more rigorous training, no more days under the hot sun, no more endless heading of the takraw ball tat causes so many bumps on my head...... i should be glad........ but i would definitely be better off if we were to win and carry on.. i would accept the trainings willingly, i would embrace the hot weather as i had done before, i would love to have the rest screaming at my back... scolding me for commiting stupid mistakes..... but .... it wasn't meant to be....... guess it'll take me sometime to get over the loss...... at least i have lots of good memories... definitely enjoyed the inter Hall games this year more than last year.......

posted by bLaCkICe @ 8:11 PM