Scotch College

First outright APS Badminton Premiership

A very determined squad of players commenced the 2004–05 badminton season with no intention of sharing another APS premiership. Twelve months before, the premiership had to be shared between Scotch, St Kevin’s College and Geelong Grammar.

Led by their Captain, Devin Toh, and Vice-Captain, Pragash Sundarakumar, the thirteen-man squad began the season with a 12 rubbers to one win over Wesley College and in the next four rounds conceded only nine rubbers. Round 6 saw a 13–0 whitewash of Xavier – a great confidence boost before taking on the previous year’s co-premiers. An unbeaten Geelong Grammar suffered its first defeat when Scotch secured an 8–5 win. The score line was the same against St Kevin’s, and the premiership was well within Scotch’s grasp. A massive 12–1 win over Melbourne Grammar in the final round put the title beyond doubt.

(Pictured above from lef to right): Stephen Muirhead, Mr Danny Tan ’04 (Assistant Coach), Oliver Blake, Devin Toh (Captain), Alexander Vlassopoulos, Pragash Sundarakumar (Vice-Captain), Victor Lei and James Cooper.

Absent: Mr Ario Abednego (Coach), Maxim Osidacz, Cheung-Mun Soo, Andrew Story, Simon Teo, Chuan Jun Yeap and Timothy Young.

The highly competitive aspect of the competition is illustrated by Scotch going through the season with an unblemished record of nine wins (98 rubbers won, 18 lost) compared to runner-up Geelong Grammar’s eight wins (94 and 23). The success of the team owes a lot, not just to the individual brilliance of the top players, but to the depth of the squad and their commitment to training and above all their willingness to rotate places when requested. The coach, Ario Abednego, is to be congratulated on his first success after several years of commendable effort.

Congratulations also to Devin Toh and Simon Teo who rounded off the season by earning a place in the APS representative side against the AGS schools.

NEVILLE TAYLOR