Dear friends and readers
The team had a restful morning in preparation for the play offs.
We are playing SA for the 5th spot. SA also won 4 sets against NNZ.
This should be interesting.
Yuli may change the team around again. Apparently she spoke to all the players individually for their comments on matching the players.
I am using my iPad today to see how it will work for the blog. Still working out the best way to blog with the battery limitation. See you parents later.
Tyz and Titus have just finished their first set. They got to 11 first. They then got to 20 but lost 4 pts in a row before closing at 21/16.
Shelby and Silvi let the other team get to 11 first. They have caught up to 13/13. They now move into the lead.
Tyz returns 3 jump smashes before SA hits into the net.
Titus then does 3 smashes before getting a pt.
S and S are playing point for point.
T and T just lost 3 pts in a row. They are now at 10/6 but just got to 11/6.
S and S are down 20/17. They just got back 1 pt but lost the set at 21/17.
T n T are up 14/6. Both Ts love to jump smash and it is working.
Tyz does another jump smash to bring the score to 18/9. They just got to 20/9. They just finished at 21/9.
S n S are now at 3/8. They need to catch up soon. They have gotten to 5/8 and are closing. They have cut it down to 1 pt. They have even up at 9/9. They get to 11/9 first. It is now 13/11 and S n S are looking more steady. They get to 15/13. Shelby's drop shot tumbles backwards instead of forward and they lose a pt.
They are back trailing at 15/16. Now down to 16/19. They get back a pt but had a return smash losing 17/21.
Alex and Phing are next. They are down 3/5. These 2 SA girls are veterans already at national competitions at such a young age. They pop up at every national competition at every each group.
A n P get to 7/7. After a close fight SA gets to 11/10.
SA are at 17/12.
WA girls are still trailing 17/14. Phing does a good cross drop to get them to 17/18. She does a soft smash to get them to 18/18. It is now 19/19. Alex returns to the net and they are at 19/20. Phing smashes again to get deuce. However they could not hang on and lost 22/20.
Ed does a good smash to get WA to 9/3. Jaz just hit the net to give SA 4/10. WA is now at 11/4. Ed and Jaz are enjoying themselves and leading at 13/6. But they need to concetrate as SA has caught up 3 pts. Jaz does a cross drop to break the cycle of points lost to SA. WA is now only 15/14 above SA. That was a lot of points lost over a short spate of time.
Edmund does a good net smash to get WA to 19/15.
He does another good smash from a set up by Jaz to get to 20/17. They get to 21/18 after a good smash by Jaz was returned out.
The boys are up to 6/2 in the 2nd set. Ed is smashing well today. But SA are getting stronger and keepng close. Now it is 7/7. They have a few good smashes to get to 11/8. They are now at 14/10 but cannot relax as SA can still come back. Jaz does a fake drop to get WA to 16/13. The boys are at 19/14. Jaz sets up another smash for Ed and Ed responds. SA returns a shot out for WA to get to 21/15.
We are square with 2 matches each.
Tyz is now playing his singles.
They are both at 3/3 feeling the court and each other's strokes.
Tyz does a good cross court drop to get even to 6/6.
They are going pt for pt.
He does another back hand cross drop to get to 11/7 first.
SA gets back to 12/12.
They are trading pts. Tyz is now at 16/14. He gets to 18/15. SA does a cross drop which Tyz returns weakly and loses the pt. He returns at 19/17. His return hits the net to give SA 18/19. He misjudges the return for SA to even at 19/19. He smashes to get to 21/19.
In the 2nd set, they are trading pts again to 3/3. Tyz does another trick cross shot to move to 6/4. He retains the lead at 10/7. He gets to 11/8. He needs to retain the lead. His lead drops to 2 and then 1. he needs to break away. SA has evened up at 13/13.
Tyz does a cross drop to get the lead again. He gets another 3 pts. He is now ahead 17/14 but needs to stay focused. It is now 18/15. He gets to 19/16. He needs 2 more. SA gets to 17/19 and then another pt.
There is a long rally before SA hits the net. The last drop gets Tyz 21/18.
Silvi gets to 11 first. She is playing confidently. She is up 16/13. She loses concentration and loses the set.
Jaz is up 17/8 but has lost 3 pts in a row. A lot can happen when you go and buy coffee. SA gets back to 10/18. A smash by SA hits the net and drops over. SA has got back 3 pts. He gets another pt when the shuttle hits the racket and drops in.
Jaz gets to 20/14. The SA player is still fighting but Jaz wins after SA hits the net to lose to Jaz 21/16.
SA gets to a 2/1 lead. Jaz just needs to let SA make more mistakes. He is moving SA around. He does a good net drop to get another pt. Jaz gets to 11/7 after moving SA all over the court before dropping the shuttle out of SA's reach.
Jaz gets to 15/9 as SA is getting tired. Jaz's base line game is causing SA some distress.
He hits and lands 2 baseline shots to win the game at 21/11.
Alex is down 15/17. She loses the first set. She is trailing 11/7 on the 2nd set. She is down to 17/9. She loses the 2nd set too after trying her best.
I just found out Phing has a walkover as Josephine is injured.
It looks like WA has survived the team event with no injuries from the girls. That would have been a problem as we have no reserve players.
Edmund is leading 6/5. The SA players looks fast on his feet. Ed gets to 10/5 and then 11/7 after a good drop. He is moving well too and gets to 14/7. Ed is losing his lead to 15/11 and then 15/13. He finally gets a pt to get to 16/14. Suddenly SA has equalised. Ed digs in and gets 3 pts. to 19/16. SA gets to 19/20 before Ed wins when the returns passes the baseline.
Ed is leading 6/2 on the 2nd set. He is now at 8/4. SA has caught up and it is 10/10. Ed gets to Waiting foir11 first. However SA turns it around and takes the lead at 13/12. It is now 15/17 to WA. Ed does a jump smash to get even. Ed does a net shot to get to 19/17. He smashes a good shot to get to 21/18.
Shelby is down 2/0. She is now at 3/4. She finally evens up at 5/5. Can she take the lead now? She does with a good drop. She gets to 10/6 to break away before reaching 11/7 first. She is at 15/10 before winning at 21/12.
She is at 6/6. SA has run ahead at 12/9. Shelby fights back and gets to 12/12. She takes the lead at 16/15 and finshes at 21/17.
I have 20 mins left of battery life. The ipad did not work as there is bad phone connection.
I am back at the apartment. We had pizzas and KFC as Kay said here was surplus in the budget.
Waiting for my turn to shower.
Coming back to the scores.
There was a walkover from SA in Phing's singles. By that time SA had already lost 6 out of 10 games.
Amos Yi played Daniel Choo and got to 21/7 and 21/11.
Titus and Silvi then played Joshua Chin and Freya Gao beating them 21/10 and 21/16.
Jaz and Alex beat Emerson Kristic and Jessica Wu 21/5 and 23/21.
Tyzton and Shelby won David Li and M Hemanth 21/19 in the first set. It looked like a sure win but they then lost 16/21 in the 2nd set requiring a 3rd set to decide. Unfortunately they lost the 3rd set 18/21 after losing focus.
This was a downer I am sure for both of them. Phing and Amos had another walkover. WA therefore came 5th with a win of 11 out of 16 games.
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| Edmund introducing the team |
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Team huddle before the game
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| Jaz and Alex |
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| Touk Krei rocktaping Amos's shoe |
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| The coach, the Umpire and the chef |
Yu Li was interviewed at the end of the team event, She said that the whole team worked so well together with the coach, the manager and the parents. She said the kids were amazing. She felt like a mother to all of them and loved each and everyone of them like her own. She felt nervous and excited everytime she saw the players play. She could feel every triumph and every disappointment the players felt.
She felt herself playing every shot with them mentally. She was emotionally exhausted. She kept worrying if the players are exhausted or injured as they were like her children. She also thanked all the parents for their great support, for all the cooking, laundry, driving around and caring.
She wishes all the players the best in their individual events and know that if they try their best, they will reach their goal.
We all have to thank YuLi for the great work and effort she has put in. Her commitment to the team was exemplary and she was totally committed to finding the best in all the players. She has sacrificed her time for the sake of the players and we need to wholly thank her for that.
I also interviewed Kay on video but was unable to upload the video. Am still trying. In essence, she was very proud of what the team has achieved. She has seen the players improve substantially from when they were first trying out for the team. They were focussed and committed to their goal. She is unsure if she will do this stint again as a manager. She thinks the players have tough draws for the individual events but am sure they will do well. She said this was one of the best team she has managed for a long time. She knows the players have given their best but am sure they will go on to achieve more. She is still upset that we missed the 3/4 placing.
We have to thank Kay for taking the time to manage this team. She has been well organised and has made sure the players are well taken care of and that the players have managed to achieve their best. Her stern manner has ensured the players tow the line and achieve theier best. Making rules like last phone call, lights out and all that is always necessary for these young minds and who better than Kay to do that.
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| Shelby's parents, Brian and Teri who have been kind enough to chauffer the parents enjoying ice cream prepared by the players |
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| The players doing the washing up |
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| Titus and Edmund serving the parents ice cream |
But wait, the individual events start tomorrow. the draws are out. I will update everyone tomorrow. Good night as it is 1 .30 am. Tassie time.
Print
Match overview
| Order | Event | Western Australia (JBT12) | - | South Australia (JBT7) | Score | Points |
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| Duration |
| 1 | MD2 |
| - |
| 21-16 21-9 | 1-0 |
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| 0:19 |
| 2 | WD2 |
| - |
| 18-21 17-21 | 0-1 |
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| 0:21 |
| 3 | WD1 |
| - |
| 17-21 21-19 20-22 | 0-1 |
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| 0:35 |
| 4 | MD1 |
| - |
| 21-18 21-15 | 1-0 |
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| 0:19 |
| 5 | MS4 |
| - |
| 21-19 21-18 | 1-0 |
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| 0:22 |
| 6 | WS4 |
| - |
| 15-21 13-21 | 0-1 |
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| 0:20 |
| 7 | WS3 |
| - |
| 18-21 11-21 | 0-1 |
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| 0:22 |
| 8 | MS3 |
| - |
| 21-16 21-11 | 1-0 |
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| 0:20 |
| 9 | MS2 |
| - |
| 21-19 21-18 | 1-0 |
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| 0:24 |
| 10 | WS2 |
| - |
| 21-12 21-17 | 1-0 |
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| 0:25 |
| 11 | WS1 |
| - |
| Walkover | 1-0 |
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| 12 | MS1 |
| - |
| 21-7 21-11 | 1-0 |
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| 0:17 |
| 13 | XD4 |
| - |
| 21-10 21-16 | 1-0 |
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| 0:17 |
| 14 | XD3 |
| - |
| 21-19 16-21 18-21 | 0-1 |
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| 0:20 |
| 15 | XD2 |
| - |
| 21-5 23-21 | 1-0 |
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| 0:30 |
| 16 | XD1 |
| - |
| Walkover | 1-0 |
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