My First Journey to a Table Tennis Tournament

 

We all like sports. Some of us like to watch and some like to play. Sports makes us active, strong and stable. I also like different sports and of them Table Tennis (T.T.) is one of them.

 

I remember when I was in class 3, I first learned to correctly hold a TT bat and play very simply from my big brother. We practiced for long hours whenever we had free time. I slowly started to like the sport and improved myself also.

 

Last year our School did not participate in the T.T. tournament. But this year five students were selected for the “Joint School Table Tennis Tournament 2023”, where 6 different schools participated, organized by Rosebud School.

 

The selected players did not have many days for practicing. Our sports teacher Gyandev sir coached us. At home, I practiced it with my brother when I had some time. I could feel that I was doing better and my family and sports teacher helped me to build my confidence.

 

Finally the tournament day arrived. Our teachers gave us last-minute instructions. We arrived at the venue – “Nepal Table Tennis Hall at Lainchaur”. I was nervous and excited to see so many students present in the hall. We did some warm-up practice with other school students.

 

Finally the matches were begun. There were different categories. I was in Junior Girl’s Singles Category. Finally my name was called with another girl from KUSH school. I was both nervous and eager to know how she played. She was a good player but I won her in 2 sets. After winning her I felt more confident and less nervous. My team congratulated me.

 

My second match was with a girl from Rosebud school. She was cheered very loudly by lot of her school mates that made me more nervous. I hoped that I would not loose very badly, but surprisingly I won her also.

 

The third match was the semifinals. I had to win this match to go to the finals. My opponent was again a girl from Rosebud School. She was better than the previous girl. My heart was racing when I was playing against her. In the second set it was a very close call. We had so many deuces and I won at 20-18 points (the set was for up to 11 points only). I was much relieved and happy and felt like I have won the finals. But she seemed very upset, so I felt sorry for her.

 

Finally, the Junior Girds Singles Final was announced. I had to play against Suramya Shakya of Class 6 of our school. I knew she was the best player from our school and also played in international tournaments. I knew that I was going to become second, so I was not nervous as before. But I was very glad both first and second places went to our school. 

 

Even though we were a small team from our school, we won two places and at school we were congratulated by our Principal, teachers and friends. I hope we will do better in coming tournaments.

 

This was my first experience in a Joint - School Tournament, and I will treasure my experience for very long.

 

Shuvanjali Manandhar

Class 7 A

St. Mary's School, Jawalakhel

September 2023.