On Tuesday the 22nd of October, a charity Pinktober Table Tennis Tournament involving both sixth form students and teachers was carried out at the beginning of the day as well as during first and second break, as I’m sure you’ve all heard. All the money raised was given to charities helping with research for breast cancer, such as Hayatt. With the help of Robert Saleb, Nachiket Dinghe and many others who organised it, the event ran smoothly and was entertaining for both participants and bystanders. A total of 18 duos, composed of combinations of both students and teachers from all departments, met at 7AM in the secondary gym, where the tables were set and ready for players.
First, we were told the rules that were to be carried out: no team can get eliminated and everyone can keep playing regardless of their results, as the ultimate goals of the event were charity and fun. We were then told who we will be playing whom.
The scores were recorded and totalled up in the end, and before first break, the semi-finals were set. The semis and final were to be played as a “Best of 3” game. The semifinal took place in the common room, at 1st break, where teachers and students alike stood watching. Akash Balaji and myself played against Ahmed Rizqi and AbdulMuiz Ahmed. The first set was a tight game but boiled down to a 11-9 win for Akash and myself. We switched sides on the table before the second set was started. Ahmed and Abdul Muiz managed to win the game near the end, meaning that those who won the third game would go through to the next stage, and the tension was building slowly. After a nerve-wracking tie-breaker full of smashes across the table, Akash and I were able to edge out our opposition with another very close 11-9 game. We all shook hands with sportsmanship when it was over. Now the finals awaited, which were also to take place in the common room at 2nd break and were set to be between Akash and myself versus Fatima Sheikh and Furzeen Kamran, who both managed to keep up an impressive all-winning streak to qualify straight to the finals.
The bell for second break rang at 1:10PM to a full house of teachers and students from all across the school who came to watch the final game. After a brief warm-up period, the toss was started, leading to the start of the long-awaited game. Everyone was full of energy and curiosity to see where all this would lead to. The first game was started by Fatima’s serve, and after many rallies full of focus, our duo won the first set with a score of 11-8. The stress was building up leading to the second game, which was initiated by Akash’s serve. A tough game with many quality hits led to Furzeen and Fatima winning the set 11-8 again. The tension was now building up, reaching the final game of the tournament that would determine the champions of the whole event. A toss was carried out and won by us, meaning that our team was going to start. Both the teams and viewers were fueled with excitement and could not wait to see what was going to happen. I served the first ball, consequently getting us our first point. The game carried on and the points racked up one after the other, ultimately ending with our team winning with a hefty 7-0 score to end it all early. It was all done now and we congratulated one another after a tiring but definitely enjoyable set of games for everyone. The whole tournament from start to finish was saturated with happiness, sweat and fun as we were all playing for a good cause.
In addition to it being a joyful experience, this was a simple yet highly effective way to raise awareness to a very serious issue. Around 36KD was raised in total from entrance fees and will all be given to charity. Special thanks go out to all the teachers and students that participated and everyone who organised this event and made it possible. All your efforts have helped make this event as efficient, smooth and enjoyable as possible.
