(by: Sally Moyland)
The biggest tournament for youth players comes around at the end of every year. Usually, the Youth Championships starts within the first few days of December. However, this year the tournament was scheduled slightly earlier and started from the end of November, making its way to the 3rd of December. Perhaps the slight adjustment was for the Youth Championships to not overlap with the Chengdu Mixed World Championships. Or maybe not, and I’m just randomly guessing about something that they never purposely did. Anyhow, I was only part of the World Youth Championships so let’s talk about that.
I had participated in the World Youth Championships two times prior to Slovenia. 2021 in Portugal, I competed in the U15 category. Our team came in third and I got to take a bronze medal home. However, that was the only event in which I was qualified to play in. 2022 was held in Tunisia. I qualified for both the U19 and U15 age groups, but ultimately chose to take the challenge and entered into the U19 category. I won a couple of good matches in the teams event, won over a Tunisian player to reach the round of 16 in singles, reached the quarterfinals in doubles, and was eliminated in the first round of mixed doubles. The experience was rough, but it was definitely expected to be so from the start.
Now, the 2023 World Youth Championships was held in Nova Gorica, Slovenia. It was my second time competing in the same hall and I even happened to stay at the same hotel. For three years in a row this tournament has been held in, or close to, Europe. The winter weather in Europe really is quite brutal. I’m certain that I don’t need to emphasize how cold it gets. And if you’re lucky enough to get the full experience, you wouldn’t want to miss out on the rainy days. However, I will say that the food and accommodations were quite nice this year. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner were well prepared with a wide selection of foods each meal.
This year, the same as the last, I participated in all four events in the U19 age group. I did well in some (and not so well in others), but let’s still jump in and take a closer look at this tournament that took a week’s time to finish. This tournament started off with the teams’ event. This draw for team USA was like last year – again, we played Chinese Taipei in the round of 16. Unlike last year, we weren’t able to overcome these opponents that had returned stronger than before.
My knee was already killing me before the match. Not because of too much practice or anything like that, but because of all the stairs that I needed to climb. The competition hall was one floor below ground level and the practice hall was two floors above ground level. Going back and forth was a big challenge before my first match, as well as throughout the rest of the tournament.
I was the first to play for our team, and took a good 2:0 lead. Then, a few tactical errors were made on my side, and I dropped the third game pretty quickly. The fourth game was tight, but I let some points slip and ended up losing the thread in the last game. With that, I suffered an early comeback defeat and pretty much cut off any chances of our team winning. Another two matches were played after mine, but all ended with the scores of 0:3. Although it was a bummer that we didn’t manage to advance, I did get the next day off and I put that to good use.
After that rest day, the next two to three days were all doubles matches. I played a total of five matches, two in girls’ doubles and three in mixed doubles. Since I was the only U19 USA girl participating in the individual events (single and doubles), I paired with Brazil for the girls’ doubles. I had another encounter with Chinese Taipei as we played them first match in the round of 16. My partner and I started off with a good 2:0 lead. Although Taipei got a game on the board, we were able to fend them off in the fourth pulling through a tight deuce endgame. Unlike my teams match, I didn’t get comebacked and successfully took the W against Chinese Taipei.
Although my partner and I were doing quite well, I’ve gotta admit that we had a challenging draw. Taipei already was a tough match, but our next one was even harder. We ended up falling short 1:3 in the quarterfinals to a cross country pair of Wales and Germany. They ended up taking home silver, only losing to China in the finals.
For my mixed doubles event, I paired with a US teammate, since one of our boys also qualified for the individual events. This was the event in which we had a roller coaster of emotions. It was a big down-up-down experience.
Our first match went pretty smooth. We took the round of 32 against a mixed country pair of Hong Kong China and Germany in straight games. Initially, looking at the draws, I thought I was gonna be lucky enough to play Taipei three times this tournament. Our second match was the winner between Japan and Chinese Taipei. Both are top level countries in the sport, but I thought Taipei had the edge on that match. Unfortunately (and fortunately for us I guess), the boy from the Taipei pair called in sick and couldn’t show for their match. The young man had already sat out for teams and doubles. He only participated in the singles event, which was held last. It was a rough trip for him and I’m sure the weather hit him hard. As I said, it really was quite cold. Also, Europe and Taiwan have quite the different climates and environments. Although I’m unable to address exactly what’s off, it just isn’t as comfortable. Maybe I’m just more used to the food and weather over in Asia.
Since Taipei dropped out, Japan automatically advanced to the round of 16. Japan is number 2 in the world for seniors, and although the youth competition is tighter between countries, Japan is still arguably the second best in the world. It was bound to be a tough match, but we went into it with an underdog mindset, fighting and just playing to the extent that we could, not thinking of any results. We dropped the first game, then, with a detailed service and receive game, we took the next three games 11:8, 11:9, 11:9. I will say that the boy from Japan didn’t perform his best that match, yet we still only won by such small margins each game. I’m sure this comes to show that there was a skill gap between us, but a win is a win (!) even if there was some luck in it. Unfortunately, it was also this very victory that laid the foundation for our next defeat.
Our next round was the quarterfinals. We were going to face off with Germany. This was for sure my best draw of the four events. One match away from a medal, yet just one match too far.
We started out strong, took the first game quickly and continued that momentum into the second game for a two point lead. This here was the first turning point. I missed a couple of attacks and our opponents got level. We lost the thread a bit and although our strategy was alright, we weren’t getting ready for enough rallies. Down about three points, I assured my partner again and again that we were doing fine but just needed to return quickly and expect those shots to come back. It worked and we fought all the way back to 9:10. We had the perfect rotation going, but unfortunately just couldn’t make that last winner. At one game a piece, the third was a crucial one. Yet, still flustered from the last, things didn’t go well for us. We started out with the wrong locations and our opponents, especially the young man, was on fire.
Finally, after a five point deficit, we switched gears and got back in the game. However, the German pair were tricky with their serves and took a good timeout at 8:10. I would say that it had been a tight match all the way up until this point. But, in the fourth, our opponents played above us and took the match home with nothing much we could do. It was a tough loss to swallow, since it was our best chance at a medal. Sadly, it was this exact mindset that slowed us down. We were more hesitant on our attacks and weren’t ready for intense rallies. That I probably regret more than anything.
Now, done with the doubles events, all I had left was my singles event. This was also bound to be a rough run. Unlike last year, I didn’t have a first match home country kind of “easy” draw. My first match was against Italy. I’ve played her at least a couple of times before the Youth Championships. Although I pulled through every time in the past, I was clear that not once was it a walk in the park. Also, the odds to win consecutively are much lower.
The singles event was played with a best of seven games format. Although seeming to be just one more game to win compared to the best of five matches, it’s actually much more. Best of seven matches are no joke. You need extra patience, energy, and tactical variety to just get through it whilst looking like you know how to play table tennis.
To be honest, I didn’t play too well in this round of 32 match against Italy. It went back and forth quite a bit. Neither of us could keep a good lead. She took a timeout early on in the second game at 10:8 for her. And I had to take my timeout quite early as well, given she almost hunted me down from 4:10. At one game a piece, I was leading with six game points in the third. I suddenly had trouble with her serves and couldn’t snatch any points with mine. Forced to take a timeout at 10:9, I came back and made a smooth wide-angled ace to close it off with my last game point. Skipping forward to two games a piece, the fifth game was utterly critical. It went the length as we see-sawed back and forth in the deuce game. I was lucky enough to be the one that pulled through with a few strong counters.
The sixth game was almost a cut-and-paste of the fifth, just even more intense. Again, we climbed up the scoreboard side by side. At 7:7, I got lucky and on the receive, pushed an unsavable net shot. Continuing the momentum my luck gave me, I hit ten and had three match points. I had a good strategy mapped out for my first matchpoint, but there was a lack of execution and I didn’t make the kill shot. She took advantage of her serves and brought the score level once more.
At 13:14 in the deuce game I pushed the ball a little too high to her backhand side, she looped it into my middle, and without moving, I leaned over and smacked the ball right past her. This is known as a “BoomBa” shot. I heard after my match that even the Chinese were impressed. The funniest part of this sequence was that after this “amazing” shot, I missed my serve…. Now that is what I call one heck of an emotional roller-coaster. However, this far into the match, I was way too nervous and tired to celebrate or get upset. I had practically no reaction to the BoomBa shot nor the service mistake. I was probably the calmest I ever was throughout this tournament. After the fifth towel break at 15:15, I took two points in a row to finally end the match. As I let out a sigh of relief, my opponent broke down into tears. Our match was such a show that WTT made a Youtube short out of it. That was pretty cool.
My airplane ticket was booked for the third of December, which was the latest of all the players from Team USA. I was bound to live up to my goal of “surviving” to that day, meaning I needed to break through my results from last year. If I could make it to the quarterfinals, then I would have in some sense “lived up to” my airplane ticket.
Korea is arguably the third best in the youth category, and I had their number one player for my round of 16 match. I didn’t have much confidence looking at the draw but still did my best to prepare. Towards the last few days, only one single’s match was scheduled for each day. This worked well for me, since I needed more rest than the average player and it gave me sufficient time to study my next opponent. The more I looked into this Korean player, the more confidence I found. Not because she wasn’t good, but because I could see a tactic that might work out. Not saying execution would be easy, but at least it was something to fight for and I wouldn’t go into the match as a headless chicken.
I started the match off strong and stuck to the game plan. Maybe it just wasn’t her day, because throughout all four games, she couldn’t make any truly useful adjustments. I controlled her well with my mix-up of serves, and although we were about fifty-fifty in the rallies, I was able to keep my advantage with a quick third-ball attack. With that, I took a straight game victory over Korea.
For my quarterfinal match I ended up playing Germany again, and although I was leading in the beginning of three of the four games, I ultimately lost 0:4. It was a tough match since my opponent was technically and physically stronger than me. I will say that I held up well in keeping the scores quite tight and yes, I did live up to my airplane ticket. It would’ve been cooler if I could’ve made USATT change my ticket, but that’s alright, we’ll make them change it next time.
This tournament was a great one even without any medals to bring home. I could feel my improvements and I got to cooperate with a very nice coach. Despite all that great stuff, I would say we have a little beef with Germany, don’t we? Next time, we gotta get them at that quarterfinal match!
Lastly here, I want to give out a big thanks to my friends from Butterfly. They took care of me, helped me with my luggage up and down the stairs, gave me someone to talk to at meals and after my matches, and even accompanied me when I walked back to the hotel at night. I would also like to thank the Japanese youth team for practicing with me before two of my singles matches. They are really strong players and I appreciate that they made the time to do something that wasn’t originally on their list.
And of course, we can’t miss out our favorite Bowmar Sports. Their continuous support and care for me really helps and encourages me more than you might think. That is truly special and I sincerely appreciate all of it.
My trip back home was pretty smooth besides the fact that at first, all my tickets got canceled. The airport in Munich had closed down due to the heavy snow and freezing rain. But, after getting new tickets, all went well and now, I am back home safe. Hopefully I’ll be back out getting at more tournaments soon and see you all in my next trip report!
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