(Article by Partyk Zyworonek)

My strong start of the season….

After the European Championships, where I came back with three medals, one gold in doubles and two silver medals: in singles and mixed doubles, I had five more WTT tournaments before my most important competition, the World Youth Championships, held in Nova Gorica. The first WTT was in Charleston, WV, I played in the U-17 and U-19 categories, which are not my age group. I decided to play these categories to play with more experienced and better players. I trained hard for these challenges, training five hours a day and six times a week. Preparing like that, I knew I could challenge players in higher categories. The first was U-17, in the group stage I won both of my matches 3:0. Even though it was my first match in the venue, I played well. In the round of 32, I played Andrew Cao, who played very well, and I could not get the win. In the U-19 event, I was placed with the number two seeded in my group. I played with skillful players, my first match was against Darryl Tsao, I played a great game, and I was prepared for all the shots he played. I beat him 3:1 after a close and exciting match. The second match was also 3:1, but this match was more under control, and I was playing well. After the group stage, I won two matches at 3:0 and made it into the event’s quarterfinals. I was playing very well that day, but my opponent also played well, and I could not make it to the semifinal stage. Overall, I am happy with my performance. My next tournament was the WTT Youth Star Contender. This tournament was incredibly challenging. All the best youth U-15 participated. In the group stage, I won two matches, 3:0, with two good players.  Last match in my group I was playing for the number one seed in my group. My opponent played great as well. We had a good match but unfortunately, I lost and was second in my group. The single elimination came in the round of 16. I played a player from Chinese -Taipei, he was very strong with a good serve. And I had a lot of problems with it. I couldn’t get to the open game where I felt better and couldn’t get past him. I lost the match 3:0. I’m happy with the result, even though I knew I could have played better with a better result. My last tournament was the Top 10 Europe tournament. I played in the Cadet category. This was my first time playing in this tournament.  I started with the 3^rd seed. Over 3 days, I played 9 matches in which all of the days my record in singles was 2-1. So, I had a record of 6-3 winning against some very good players, and had a lot of hard 4-3 matches. I fought hard and finished in 3^rd place.  Overall I played 61 sets; I was very tired after the tournament but happy with my performance. I was thrilled I could play in such an amazing tournament. Now, I’m training back in Poland, in the Olympic Centre in Zielona Gora, and getting ready for the first league matches, and Polish qualification tournaments. In my training facility, my coaches and I are doing everything to get me to play better to prepare for those tournaments. I’m very happy that the season thus far and I’m going to give it my all to make it the best season yet.

Thank you Bowmar Sports for supporting me!