If we could shout it at the top of our lungs, we would do so with a fist pump in the air exclaiming: SMA is the champion for the InterProfessional Games (IPG) 2018! It has been a year of new beginnings and exciting achievements after our players were battered and riddled with fair-to-middling results last year. SMA team captains and players readied themselves to pit their skills against lawyers, accountants, architects, engineers and quantity surveyors in ten out of the 11 sports and games presented for this year's tournament held between August and October, all while the Association was facing operational changes of its own. All of us overcame the slim odds to emerge stronger than ever and victorious at the end of the day. Here, some of our team captains share their teams' journey during this year's IPG.
SMA Bowling Team
Captain: Dr Valerie Teo
"When the SMA Bowling team got to the last four frames of the final game, we were predicting that the team would be in third position based on the points accumulated by then. However, the team pressed on and continued to enjoy our game and have fun while we were at it. In the last two frames, three of our bowlers managed to attain several crucial strikes in a row. What a great finish!
While we were delighted to finish our games on a high note, most of our teammates started to pack up to head off for our respective evening plans, with the belief that we had secured third place. To our surprise, the host team's captain walked over to us and told us that we had won by a mere 13 pins! We were all shocked and thoroughly excited as it has been eight years since the SMA Bowling team last won the IPG championship trophy. Finally, the spell is broken!"
SMA Chess Team
Captain: Dr Jeevarajah Nithiananthan
"The SMA Chess team has succeeded in defending our title at the IPG 2018, despite several players' absence due to demanding work schedules and other obligations. This year, three teams competed in the tournament – SMA, the Law Society of Singapore (LSS) and the Institute of Engineers Singapore (IES). The Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants (ISCA) was keen on participating in this tournament too, but was unfortunately unable to do so due to a shortage of players. The LSS team beat the IES team convincingly 3-1 in the first round, but the latter was resoundingly defeated by the SMA team 4-0 in their subsequent encounter.
The final and as always exciting pivotal match between the SMA and LSS teams concluded in a 3-1 victory in our favour! The finals could very well have been a clean sweep, had it not been for one of our stronger players having to retire after a heavy post-call duty – an unfortunate job hazard in our profession. Nonetheless, SMA is the IPG Chess champion once again!"
SMA Volleyball Team
Captain: Dr Tan Pinhong
"Our SMA Volleyball team won the championship title at this year's IPG, for the very first time since the inauguration of the Games! It was a tough but exciting battle against the strong LSS and ISCA teams, with many close shaves and narrow score margins. Nonetheless, the SMA Volleyball team fought hard, pulled through the challenges and emerged victorious. We could not have done so without the unwavering support of other volleyball players in medicine."
During the closing dinner on 5 October 2018, which LSS wonderfully hosted at Royal Palm @ Clarke Quay, Chairperson of IPG 2018 Muhamad Imaduddien acknowledged the strong sense of camaraderie among all the players across the respective professions at this year's Games. The dinner venue was abuzz with lively conversation as IPG players and Secretariat staff discussed the various game results and SMA's first overall sole championship win in decades. Till next year's IPG!