2003
World Junior Championships
December 15, 2003 (Monday)
This morning we played France. The are a strong team. The first
match was
between Whitney Ping and Laurie Puai Pang. The French girl was very
athletic with strong shots from both wings. Whitney played quite well and
took the second game but was not able to push the match further. 6-11,
11-9, 8-11, 2-11.
The second match was Jackie Lee and the #1 French girl Carole Grundisch.
Jackie was only close in the 3rd and last game. 5-11, 6-11, 9-11.
The third match was Katherine Wu vs. Audrey Mattenet. Katherine played
quite well taking the 2nd game but was unable to continue the trend. 4-11,
13-11, 3-11, 7-11. France wins the team match 3-0 and advances to the
quarterfinals.
The US team will now compete for spots 9-16.
Our first match in the consolation bracket was Chile. We were a bit
concerned about a potential large cheering section that has spurred on
Chile to be more competitive in their matches. Jackie played the first
match and took the crowd out of it immediately with a dominating win. 11-8,
11-3, 11-3.
Whitney was next and also won 3-0 with the first game being close. 12-10,
11-2, 11-6
Katherine Wu was next up to play for the US. She had yet to win a match
for us thus far and she was aware of this and wanted to make a contribution
by winning one for us. She played very well and finished the match in
style by backhand hitting the Chilean loop for a winner. I hope this gives
her confidence for the remaining matches in the tournament. USA Wins 3-0!
Our next match is Brazil tomorrow morning. If we can win the next match
then we will finish in the Top 10. I believe both teams are equally
matched.
BTW, The US Embassy has invited us for a visit!
Signing off from Santiago,
Coach Dennis Davis
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