BadmintonWAUnder 19s: WA V NSW2

Dear readers

This has been an exciting day for WA.

We had just beaten SA in the morning. For us to win a medal, we had to win against NSW 2. That is not going to be easy.

Jsper and Sunyee put WA on the board with their first win against Chu and Pickles in 2 easy sets. Celina and Alicia played against Almazan and Charis Ho losing in 3 sets. They tried hard.

Xiang and Tyz had no problems putting Ang and Chen away in 2 easy sets.

Amelia and Phoebe were again no match for Chan and Li losing in 2 sets.

Jason then took on Alex Chen wining in 2 sets. Jason has improved so much since training at Han Jian's academy with Tyz.

Young Phoebe was again unable to win against older Kelly Xu. Phoebe has tried so hard for WA.

Sun Yee then played Ethan Chen. His first set was up 17/0 before losing a point. He finished the game at 21/3. The 2nd set Ethan fought back for every point but had to concede at 22/20.

By the way, do you realise Celina and Ethan are both Chen?

I just found out during the match that Ethan and Celina are brothers and sisters. I have been sitting beside their mum Mrs Chen throughout the tournament. Today, she had to cheer for both WA and NSW. One of her friends said she will win either way whether WA or NSW 2 wins.

Amelia then started her game against Almazan. Amelia lost the first set at 11/21. She fought back in the 2nd set for every point till she got to 21/15. In the 3rd set, it was so tight and her mother Nancy Lowe could not bear to watch or cheer as she is from NSW. Amelia finished the game at 21/19 and broke into tears.

This was for her a vindication for not being selected into the NSW team. I managed to get a video of her crying and hugging her sister Katarina Lowe who is another player.

I will try and update the video when I have better broadband. The video is on facebook and already has 178 views.

Amelia's win could have tipped the match in WA's favour as WA and NSW2 have been fighting neck to neck.

KC had no trouble dispatching Pickles in 2 easy sets.

Celina then went against fellow NSW player Charis Ho. They went for 3 sets before Celina succumbed. Celina has been such a good player for WA. It must have been difficult playing against her brother's team but she has given WA everything she had but there is more coming.

Xiang again had no problems beating Arrick Ang in 2 sets.

Alicia then went against older Rachel and had to concede in 2 sets.

At this stage WA had won 7 and NSW had won 5 matches. WA had to get to 9 to secure a win.

Amelia and KC played against Arrick Ang and Maggie Chen. KC and Amelia lost in 2 sets bringing the WA team in danger.

Phoebe and Tyz then played Almazan and Chen. This was again a difficult match for Chen's mum to watch. Phoebe and Tyz were able to win in 2 sets.

Had WA won already. We were not sure.

In between all these, Jasper and Alicia were playing Alex Chen and Kelly Xu. Jasper and Alicia were ahead 19/13 in the first set. Thy then made mistakes and lost at 24/26. Luckily they redeemed themselves by winning the next 2 sets at 21/11 and 21/19. This was close. Alicia has done well with Jasper's support and guidance.

This meant WA had won already. Xiang went on with Celina to win against Chu and Ho.

This has been a great day for WA. It was difficult yesterday but today gave them rewards fortheir hard work.

Tomorrow they play Tasmania who have lost to all the other teams. Is a bronze assured? Nay, never take anything for granted.