My Last Cluster Meet …

So it ends. With great sadness, I keep my TT racket in its cover for one last time, zip it in and that's it for the Saudi Chapter. The just concluded 23^rd Cluster Meet was my last in my school career. Nostalgia was bound to hit me and so it did as I went back to the first time I played at the Inter-school level, the first time I proudly wore my IIS Dammam shirt and track suit given to me by the school. It was a long 6 years ago. Fast forward and here I am representing my school for the very last time. The experience of playing at this level is something so amazing that it is hard to describe. The chants, the cheering, the motivating, the tension, the pressure and above all the Pride and Glory of winning and showing the other schools who’s the BOSS around here. This cluster meet was not too different from the other ones, but was special for me as it would be my last one. It was, as expected a tight and tense affair. It was the 1st out of 3 phases, in which the indoor games TT and Badminton would be played. Being the most successful school, IISD and also the defending champions, we were confident as ever. Two schools took the responsibility of hosting this event, IIS Riyadh and NMEIS Riyadh and they did a mighty good job indeed.

6-10-2013: Opening Ceremony: Once we reached the venue, we got changed into our provided tracksuits and headed for the Opening ceremony.

There were multiple school teams participating in this Saudi Chapter.

From Riyadh:

IIS Riyadh
DPS Riyadh
IIPS Riyadh
NMEIS Riyadh

From Jeddah:

IIS Jeddah
DPS Jeddah

From Jubail:

IIS Jubail

From Dammam:

IIS Dammam

And finally Jabal Farsan International school.

Once the formalities were done with, we went back to our provided accommodation, rested for the day and prepared ourselves for next day’s matches. The next morning we were up and ready.

7-10-2013: Once we entered the arena, we knew it was time. The matches were a tedious affair; players fighting for each point, not letting the other one get on top. There were some epic ones alongside some one-sided ones.

IISD was handed a tough group to begin with. We had our eternal rivals IIS Jeddah in the group together with tough competitors DPS Riyadh and newcomers Jabal Farsan. Our first match was done and dusted quite easily against Jabal Farsan. The second was the big one, against Jeddah. The whole crowd was silent and one could only hear the sound of the TT ball bouncing on each side of the table. I myself lost a cliffhanger of a game. It went down to the wire and in the final set I netted my shot at 12-13 to heartbreakingly lose 11-7, 3-11, 11-8, 8-11, 12-14. But my teammates did win their games comfortably and I too got my act together to win the reverse singles match easily and we were through to the semi-finals due to be contested the following day.

8-10-2013: The semi-finals. And we had to wait and wait and wait for it to start. Trying to keep ourselves warmed up and ready the whole day, we were practicing, jogging, cheering and doing what not only to see our match postpone to the very last game of the day. But of course there was a silver lining. I got to witness and umpire some great games of the younger age groups i.e. under-14 and under-16. The u-14 and u-16 finals were also contested under my supervision and it was a pleasure to watch the NMEIS boys win yet again. They are known for producing exceptional young players and have been qualifying for the CBSE Nationals in the u-14 and u-16 age groups for the past 3 years in a row and this year was nothing different for them. They romped home with ease. I too got inspired by the kids and went on to produce some of my best table tennis to finish off the semi-finals in a flash by winning in straight sets.

9-10-2013: The big day. The final. The event everybody was waiting for. The under- 19 final is the most marquee event of the cluster meet and so it was rightly the most anticipated as well. Even after 6 years of experience my heart was pounding moments before my game.  It was against IIS Jeddah again. My teammate Aves went first. He fought back brilliantly to come back from a set down and beat the Jeddah player Maniyar 3-1. It was time for me to play. Everyone with their eyes firmly set on my game again. Freakishly nervous, I somehow made it to the table almost shivering. Once the game began, that was it. The adrenaline took over and I played the best match of my life. I defeated my opponent in straight sets and didn’t give him a whisker of a chance. Everything seemed to gel. Each one of my shots seemed to land on the edges and for the first time in my life I got to feel what it was like to be in “THE ZONE”. The atmosphere was electric. And I finally won the game. My other teammate Adnan went next and didn’t take too long to finish his opponent off sending us into raptures as we had just qualified for the CBSE Nationals by winning the u-19 team Championship. It was a magical moment. 

Later on we strode on to the stage with the WE OWN THIS PLACE feeling when our names were announced and there were loud cheers for our school. We went up onto the dais and proudly showed off the overall Championship trophy yet again. Chants of “Dammam Se Panga… Danga hi Danga” rang in my head. It was the last time I would witness something like this. I am glad I was part of it.

Trophy/Medal Haul from 2008-2013

                                                
Some of the players who impressed me the most and are monstrous talents with a bright future ahead are listed below. They are destined to provide breathtaking moments;

Amaan ur-Rahman- NMEIS Table Tennis Academy product. The Sachin Tendulkar of Table Tennis. That’s how highly I rate him. Tendulkar, not only because he is little but also because he is that good.

Robert Aaron- another NMEIS product. Another outstanding player with an amazing future.

Aves Mohammed- Yet another NMEIS product. My teammate.  I am so glad he came to my school.

Amar Jain- my teammate. First year representing IISD, playing in the u-14 category and he bravely fought to come 4^th in the individual championships. Fantastic effort and a great asset for the future.

P.S – Our u-19 Badminton teams too did win and have qualified for Nationals but I didn’t write about them as I wasn’t there to witness it and don’t know much about the other badminton teams.