Conclusion - Victory Banquet
After one day of resting and shopping, we had the victory dinner at the playing hall (transformed back into a ballroom) In my several years of playing overseas, I've been to numerous victory dinners. I must say this one really stood out.. thanks in no small extent to the fact that we won.
In addition to the excellent food and service, the prize presentation ceremony was something I'm sure none of us would forget. There was a podium and a flag raising ceremony complete with National Anthem when each team took their medals. For most of us, it is one of few chances we get to stand on the podium and sing the National Anthem. There is only so much I can say about the pride we had, you just had to be there to feel it.
After the dinner, there was a mingling around session where we exchanged contacts with other players and of course there is the photo-taking session. There was also the celebration tradition where they filled the trophy with beer and we took turns to drink from it. Everyone had fun but there was a lingering feeling that we have come to the end of our journey as a team.
Many people are flattering with their congratulatory remarks.. It's true we were the first Zone 6 team to win a medal but are we the best youth team in Zone 6 ever? A model for youth teams in future? Better than the dominant Chinese teams in the 1990s and the powerful HK team early 2000s? There is no way of comparing, certainly not by this single achievement. I can only say we are surely the luckiest yet but we have also shown that if we put in effort, it is possible to match the best in the world....
The honours roll at WYC 2006 again:
Youth
Gold: USA1
Silver: Italy
Bronze: Singapore
Schools
Gold: Israel
Silver: Latvia
Bronze: Poland
posted by Jinzhou @ 8:28 AM
5 comments
5 Comments:
Being my last WYC, I will be too old for youth next yr, I am glad to be given a chance for this experience, of coz to the big credits of my two strong teammates pairs. The win at the PABF, followed by the bronze medal win at this WYC, will be two experiences i will never forget. Also, the back-to-back WYCs last year and this year gave me an extra chance this year to recover what I had lost last yr. I thank the whole team including the coach and the NPC for their help and guidance in making this dream possible for us and for Singapore, putting it on the world map. :)
I have to say Fabian played exceptionally considering the fact that he was not able to hear clearly during this tournament. Can you imagine running with a sore toe? Eating with a mouth ulcer? He was able to concentrate despite this "problem"...amazing!
I would say that our SIN youth team has done us proud. It is the first ever international medal by SIN.
As a supporter for SIN, some losses really made me nervous, but somehow SIN always managed to pull herself out of the pit. (Really made me sweat for nothing! =P )
Well done, you all!
Great job guys...but stop giving so much credit to luck...you earned it :)
It was an awesome effort and so well deserved.
I hope to meet again soon
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