I am absolutely pooped--but I am very, very happy.
Yesterday we faced arch-rivals RV in the West Zone Table Tennis Zonals Finals. The C Division had an easier win at 3-1. You guys were great! (: I was honestly a little worried because Si Yi injured herself and had to pull out, but even without her you managed to clinch the title easily all the same. Three cheers for NYTT C Div! :D Thanks for cheering for us, too! Hope you all enjoyed the debut team dinner; we'll have another one after the Nationals to officially conclude this year's competition season! :D
The B Division had to fight much harder for the title. Si Min and I were placed as the second doubles (thank goodness--there had been possibilities of us each going up as singles players, which, in retrospect, would have been suicide). Althea won the first singles match easily enough; it was an auspicious start, I suppose. Lynn and Celestine went up for the first doubles match. They lost--the other side had decided to substitute one of their usual doubles players with a stronger singles one. It's alright, work hard and fight in the Nationals! (: Chen Qiong went up as the second singles, and that was when we began to break out into cold sweat. Her opponent just wouldn't give up. In the end, she lost 3-2--a shining beacon of hope for RV to break the NY record and finally clinch the Zonal Champion title. After 20 years! They were leading 2-1 now and if we lost either one of the remaining matches, that would be it for us.
When Si Min and I went up, I remember worrying. I wanted to win, I was driven, motivated, heated up. That's a good thing if you're in a fighting sport, like taekwando or judo, when all you have to do is hang on and keep getting back up on your feet. But for a more skill-driven sport like table tennis, you need a cool head. You might want to win very, very much, but the more heated up you get, the harder it is for you to be accurate. One misled WHACK and you lose a point. With so many people from RV watching (both boys and girls) and the rest of the teams who had already finished their games (altogether easily about 60 or more), I thought I might as well put my bat down and surrender. But I thought I'd give it a shot.
And so Si Min and I whacked our way through. I think, for a crucial match like this, we did great. Under that kind of pressure and in front of so many people, our performance could be considered surprisingly good (for someone like me, at least!). We won 3-0. Very honestly, I think we just picked it up and killed it. I think the fact that the whole team got up on their feet and lined the barriers around our court to cheer for us helped tons. It was so heartening to see everyone standing up and cheering us on, left, right and centre. Thanks everyone--it helped me a lot during my match (:
Hui Yi went up as the deciding singles player, and I have to say that under that kind of pressure, she was fabulous. WHACK WHACK WHACK with an accuracy of pretty much 100%. And then that was it. We'd clinched the title again. After the long, epic battle, we'd done it.
I was absolutely relieved.
At this point I must also add that RV played brilliantly. They had such admirable fighting spirit. Even if they lost in the end, they put up a great fight and gave us a little run for the title! Three cheers for RV!
It was a great feeling when we went out for our team dinner. It was our debut team dinner, and since we'd all fought long and hard (and well) for the medals we deserved, there was a sense of satisfaction in us. We went to Subway at JP and had a wonderful useless-conversation-packed dinner. Juniors and seniors mixed together and had their moments of craziness together. This is the first time I've seen NYTT so bonded. All the way for the Nationals everyone! (: If we could fight hard yesterday, we sure as hell can fight hard again! NYTT for the win!
After a night of rest, I faced another heart-pumping competition--ACJC's inaugural Orators' Cup. I didn't expect to win anything. I didn't even expect to get anywhere near the finals. But I had lots of fun speaking in front of sporting audiences and talking about Mango (she came up, like twice?) and just sharing a part of who I am. Most of my speeches were very personal and had my own opinion on things in them. It was thoroughly enjoyable (and I was also very relieved I didn't screw up). I got very, very nervous when I realized I was one of the finalists. The topic was considerably much harder than the previous ones; the Rise and Fall of Man. I chose to speak about the quote: "After the game, the king and pawn go into the same box." I talked about how death is the one truth that binds us all (I kept wishing death on people today! Sorry!) and how even the greatest of men couldn't escape death, and therefore why no one can act all high and mighty during their lifetimes, because we're all the same. I did a lot better than I thought I would, although I didn't entirely expect a prize. But I ended up second, much to my surprise... So that was a good way to end the day! :D
Now that two major (very worrying) competitions are over, I can have a good rest (I just had a two-hour nap) and then get back to homework.
No matter what you win, you can't get away from that.
Ah, well.
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PROFILE
this is where i let rip, so be warned that you might not like everything that pops up here. but i do, so deal with it. (: .
loves
this is so subject to change that i'm not even gonna bother listing them down.
hates
too many, and the list would be extremely volatile, anyway.
wants
a place in Oxford University (good luck, jennifer.)
for someone to know that he has a special place in her heart!
to survive in HCJC next year
not to have so many wants (but who's counting?)