sinnie

Oh gosh. This blog setting changed so much! A year would be exactly how long I havent been in touch with table tennis. However, after watching my juniors' national match yesterday, I'm a proud senior. (I still LOVE these emoticons! ha.)

Oh well. Here goes:

 The match ended with 3-2. No words can describe exactly how I feel towards this match. I'll try anyways.

The first year when I first stepped into VJTT, we broke the 'curse' of being 3rd in the Nationals. It was a year we all thought a miracle had happened. So, naturally, we didnt even THINK about bringing a Championship Cup back. The second year when I was in year 2, we were all so tensed up yet determined to MAINTAIN our second position. We turned the tables at a time when hope seems to have given up on us. Being able to have a stand in the finals again, was a relief. Again, Championship still seemed a little too far. We took a step closer but stopped right there, choosing to believe that it was our limit. Now, seeing the way my juniors fight, I realised that limits are meant to be broken. They, like us, thought that we'd have to MAINTAIN our second position and took it as a MUST. For this, they've done it beautifully after beating HC 5-0. It was such a beautiful match that we could not believe that they were the same girls 5 minutes ago, getting all tensed-up and on the verge of tears. Against RJC was never an easy task for us all. Their players are mostly professionally-trained and we seniors thought the chances of winning might have been zero. It wasnt. Not at all. The juniors, once again, proved us wrong. They gave them such a tough fight that RJ almost thought they were going to lose. So, did us. We thought we were going to win it all. It was this day when I felt that our aim was no longer getting into finals. It was the Champion. It was the closest we have felt to clinching the title. ‘Just a little bit more’, my teammates have been repeating that in my ears. Right. It was a ‘so near yet so far’ situation. However, we must give the juniors credit. For this was the first year we actually believed that we could be the Champion.

I wanted to give a close analysis on every match but decided not to. I don’t want to bore you to tears. Well, just to summarise, the doubles brought us the two points which they totally deserved it. They played a wonderful match. Special mention goes to Yeow May and Chermaine. Both met up with 2 unbeatables. We would have hoped for Chermaine to win her match like she did when she was against HC. But the pressure seemed to have proved it was too much to take. Chermaine fought hard like we all thought she would, but didn’t manage to pull through. As for Yeow May, it’s always her that I ended up being really impressed. Before the match, she may cry, she may be so scared that she is shivering. But when you throw her up to the table, she’s a totally different. She may be scared, but I could not see it. I see determination in her eyes. She met the current (under 19)national champion. Our hope actually started to diminish but our faith hasn’t. Yeow May showed that she wasn’t someone to be trifled with. Probably because the opponent was confused by her bat, Yeow May managed to take the first match comfortably. Second match, towards in the end, the opponent finally realised that she had to throw in her best as well for this match. Second and third match, the opponent displayed magnificent skills that we all thought Yeow May lost for a reason. We thought it was going to end in the fourth match. But Yeow May fought back. Like a wall. I almost forgot. That was her trademark. As all the other matches ended, the silence in the hall, for this match, is deafening. Fifth match, Yeow May fought to the very last minute but the opponent still had the upper hand. It might have been wasted. But we have to realise that being able to fight to this stage is already quite a feat! In terms of skills, no way can we beat the opponent. From what we see, Yeow May fought with courage and determination, something that requires that extra effort than using skills. Every ball she won, was hard to get. However, with skills, the opponent could easily pull it back. It was tough, but she fought, to the very last moment. Frankly speaking, in all my life of playing table tennis, I’ve had had a team like that. A team that played such beautiful match. I’m not saying that we were not fighting hard enough, but our desire to achieve the Championship cup was not strong enough. There were bound to be times that some of us in the team feel like just getting the match over and done with, especially when meeting those so-called formidable opponents. I didn’t see it in this team. I’d have to say, I’m so glad to have caught this match. I wouldn’t want to miss such beautiful spirit displayed by the team. Still, well done, girls!

PS: It still turned out to be quite long huh?