For some reason, this year all the racquet sports have ended in extremely close and hard-fought wins or losses! The girls’ table tennis was another close, close match in which we could so easily have gone to finals - but didn’t. Read all about it in this report by girls’ captain Deng Shuo.

KE vs KR: 1 - 4

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In the table tennis prelims on the 20th, the table tennis girls had done quite a good job to get into semis. In the intervening period between prelims and semis, the girls trained hard,almost the whole night for two days! On 24th Jan, 8pm, the team played against KR at MPSH2. Now was their opportunity to show the fruits of their labour.

The girls’ team arrived at 7pm and did some warm up. Everyone looked energetic and confident. Many Keviians came dawn to support the semis. Former table tennis captains Bai wei and Zheng Jun also came down in office wear to support and give tactical guidance despite their busy jobs!

1st Singles
The games started at 8pm sharp. Dawn played the first singles against KR. She had vociferous support. She showed her efforts and spirit of never giving up; however, she was outclassed by her experienced opponent (0-3).

1st Doubles
Meanwhile, the 1st girls’ doubles, Chun Yan and Deng Shuo, were also met with strong opponents. They were very tense, leading to many unforced errors. The score was close - KE supporters and the rest of the team watched in growing excitement as both the KE pair and their opponents won 2 matches each!

The fifth match was a rubber. It would decide who won. Everyone held their breath. Chun Yan and Deng Shuo were leading up to 10-2. Only one more point and they would win! But then the momentum was lost and supporters watched in disbelief as KR fought their way back and the score became 10-6. This was quite a strenuous moment. Both sides asked for a break and directed their players. After the break, the players returned to the match. Thanks to a wonderful serve from Chun Yan, the game was won immediately by KE. Everyone cheered for this success!

2nd Singles
The player from KE was our most experienced and skilled senior, Yue Yi. Unfortunately, she was faced with an equally formidable opponent, who took the lead first. However, Yue Yi showed her strong skill and won 1 match. When the 4th match came, KE supporters were abuzz with excitement. The score was quite close and both Yue Yi and her opponent tried hard. It was a pity that Yue Yi lost by 2 points in the end, as this was one of the highest chances we had to win a game. However, she played quite well and the players looking on were cheered by her spirit.

2nd Doubles
The outstanding freshmen Wang Liao and Yue Xing took their places. They had done a good job in the prelims and won the first match in prelims, which enabled KE to go to the semis. Their opponents were quite experienced. However, they did not feel any fear and played quite well. They kept fighting and, just as it had been during the first doubles, the score was a close 2-2!

The rubber came. Keviians all cheered for them and gave them strong support. Wang Liao and Yue Xing were very tense. Unfortunately, they lost in the end. But their efforts were really appreciated, and they had put up a good show for the spectators!

3rd Singles
Tang Pan played at the same time as the 2nd doubles. She was very tense and made some unforced errors, resulting in her losing the first two matches. During break, Sheng Qiu and Zheng Jun (both are former captains) gave her encouragement. It was unfortunate that she lost the 3rd match.

The girls did a good job in the semis, and all the spectators agreed that it was a close fight which could so easily have swung the other way. We have high hopes that they will do even better in next year’s IHG!

Well done table tennis girls!

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A player’s point of view:

I am quite proud of my teammates for today’s performance! Although we did not win, we all did our best. The odds were against us from the beginning, as most of our players are freshmen. We really trained hard and did all our best in both training and IHG, and were really delighted that we could make it to the semis!

And today I saw so many Keviians come to support us, I am strongly encouraged. We also owe our great improvement to our male captain Wen Jun and former captain Bai Wei, they came and trained us every time despite not living in hall. And also seniors like Li Ling, Zhi yong, Sheng Qiu, they really gave us good trainings. As the female captain, I am really proud of my teammates. Thanks to them, we formed a good team and gained success. All of my teammates performed pretty well! I hope to see our greater success next year!

- Deng Shuo