This is one of the hardest posts I will have to write. We have returned to the hotel and we are
exhausted from the day’s events. I am
sorry not to give all the detail in Technicolor for your high definition review
but I am too disappointed to describe the full days events fairly.
Our day started off with our encounter against Ecuador. Due to miscommunication we had to default the
first two matches of the day. This was a
heart breaking reality for the whole team as Ecuador was the third strongest in
the pool and we started the day with a 2-1 loss to Ecuador. Through the day there was much discussion as
the root of the problem but in the end the decision stood and we lost the
encounter.
Not to be deterred we had a second match in the
afternoon. This time we would be playing
the #2 team in our round robin pool, Mexico.
We calculated the numbers and we were not out of the running yet, but we
needed to pull out a 2-1 win over Mexico.
(Aside: for Team
Canada to medal a third time in the boys event we needed to finish top 2 in our
pool. The loss against Ecuador, meant we
had to play for a 3 way tie in the pool between Ecuador, Mexico, and
ourselves. In the event of the 3 way tie
the tie is broken by the team with the most matches won, and our single win
over Ecuador would put us ahead of them if we beat Mexico)
The Mexico match-up started at 4:30pm and right from the
start there was a different feel to the match.
After the warm-up we took pictures with the opposing team. All the team members greeted each other and
exchange pre-match words in broken English and Spanish.
Matthew Henderson was our lead off man in #2 position. He was up against Enfrain Salazar whose two cousins both are top 100 world ranked players. Matthew battled valiantly against the older
Mexican. Holding even point for point
and winner for winner with Salazar, up to 8-8, but lost the first game. In the second game Matthew lost control of
the match mid-game when the crafty Mexican started playing the referee for lets
and strokes fishing for calls and disrupting the pace of the match any way he
could and eventually sneaking out a lead and closing up 2 games in the
lead. In the third the confidence of the
more experienced player controlled the momentum of the match right to the
end. Matt had no chance to get back in
this one.
You remember Hector, our Canadian friend who came to visit
us earlier this week? He came back to
watch us play again. Hector was a
positive influence on the team. His
presence raised our spirits and it was good to have a hometown supporter.
Stefan Houbtchev started our second match with Guillermo
Cortez. Cortez is an unbelievably
smoother striker of the ball. His
control over the ball and Stefan was great but not complete. Stefan was able to rally with Cortez and set
up the points and rallies. In the end it
was Stefan who’s unforced errors were the deciding factor. Hitting 3 more tins than your opponent means
they play the game to 8 while you have to play to 11.
Yes we are two down, and yes that puts us out of the top 2
positions in the round robin play, and out of medal contention. We were not going to stop there, David still
had to play and Alejandro Reyes was ready to go. Mexico was determined to beat us not 2-1 but
3-0. David had a different idea in
mind. If you have seen this year’s
Canadian Junior National Champion play you know his determination and his powerful
ball striking are scary. After many long
rallies David lead his opponent using a variety of power, speedy retrieval, gentle
touch in the front and lobs to wrong foot his opponent. David was able to hit dying length, and
obtain the elusive “no let” from the referee.
After 30min David won the last match of the encounter 3-0.
Tomorrow morning we play Brasil and we will continue in the
afternoon with draw play to play to our highest possible finish of 7th
place. There still remains a minimum of
3 matches for us to play. We still have
a job to do tomorrow.
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