46th World Championships
By Petra Cada (Team Canada)

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Standing on a hill at a local park.

Saturday, April 28th
Today, I had no matches, so I practiced twice.

We watched the semi-finals of the men's team events; the stadium was packed and one part of the stadium was filled with us table-tennis players - everyone who was not competing themselves came out to watch; Sweden lost 3-1 against Belgium - a huge upset and all the players were just stunned....when Jean-Michel Saive defeated Persson in the last match, Saive jumped over the barrier and ran around the whole stadium with his fists in the air - the rest of the team ran up to him and jumped on him - it was a huge win for them - the Belgium girls had tears in their eyes and then the whole team sang outside and at dinner....for Belgium, this victory was like winning the World Championships already!!!!!!

After this upset, we (the players) all thought that it would happen again: South Korea and China were tied 2-2 and Kim Taek Soo was up 1-0 against Liu Guozheng...the atmosphere in the stadium was so intense and almost all of the players were cheering for South Korea - it didn't seem like anyone wanted China to win...every time the Koreans made a point, most of the players would cheer and stand up in their seats..even the Swedish men were watching in excitement....it was incredible!! In the 2nd game, Kim Taek Soo had about 2 match points but ended up losing - the rallies were incredibly long and the points were amazing - both players were far from the table smashing like crazy and neither of them would miss!! In the third, Kim Taek Soo had 7 match points - the crowd was going crazy - the players would jump out of their seats every time Kim Taek Soo had advantage point - we were all clenching our fists - could China finally lose? NO! Liu Guozheng won like 28-26 (I'm not sure about this score)....a sudden silence filled over the players..everyone was really disappointed...however, Liu Guozheng deserved it - I never saw a match like this before where the points were so long and so exciting up until the last point - the best match of the World Championships....poor Kim Taek Soo - 9 match points in total...I would kill myself!!!!!!!!!!!

After everyone's heart rates went down, nobody stayed to watch the women's team final of North Korea and China - it was so boring and incomparable to the men's semi's.

Sunday, April 29th

Today was a hot and humid day - and it rained all day - we all walked around with umbrellas - every player was given one at the beginning of the championships...I never realized before the number of table-tennis players that smoke.I noticed especially today because the players that were smoking were outside smoking under their umbrellas!!!

This morning Chris Xu and I played our qualification women's doubles match against a French team: we lost 18 in the third - it was really too bad...

I also played my singles qualification group today - I had to win 3 matches in order to make it to the first round of the main draw: my first match was in the main stadium against the same Malaysian girl that I played in the team events: I won 3-0; my 2nd match was in the Osaka Pool against a girl from Mongolia - I wasn't sure if she was a defense player or attacker, but she seemed to do everything - I won 3-0; my 3rd match took place during the middle of the men's team final, which I found very strange - I got to watch some of the final, but not all of it (I was a little upset, but then I realized that Sweden wasn't in the final, so I didn't care as much!).....everybody wanted Belgium to beat China, but no chance for Belgium - the semi-finals ended up being much more interesting than the final.

I won my 3rd match against a girl from Slovenia (Safran), 3-0! YES, I'm in the main draw!!!!!!! I think this is my first time in the main draw of the World Championships!!!!!!!

Well, another day over - so far, when I haven't been playing, I've been cheering for my teammates....up to now, there has been no time to relax and to catch up on the gossip with my other friends.

Monday, April 30th
Today, the main round of the mixed doubles event started - I played with Pradeeban Peter-Paul - we were already in the main draw for some reason - we had to play the top ranked team from Romania - Steff and Crisan - we had no chance!!!!!!!! They killed us, but then they made it to the quarter-finals, so we didn't feel as bad.

This mixed doubles match was my only match today; after my match, I walked between Hall 1 and Hall 2 and Hall 3 and watched the rest of my teammates play; I also finally got to talk a bit more with my friends - I know the Czech team really well, so I hung out with them a lot.

I also practiced with Virginia Sung today and my friend from Mexico - I was feeling so tired, but I also really felt like practicing.

I visited the different equipment stands that were set up in the stadium - I bought some nice Butterfly t-shirts!!!

There was a nice park that connected Halls 1 and 2 together, so me and my friends from Poland walked through it and fed the ducks; later on, Ashu Jain and I walked through it and played with a really cute dog.

The day went by fast once again - every day seems the same - get up, eat, play some matches, eat, watch some matches, talk to some friends, eat, watch t.v., email, and go to sleep.

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