Sunday, July 5, 2009
9:54 PM
ASIAN Youth Games - Heartbreak for Isabelle
Singapore came close to winning a Bronze in Table Tennis once again, but Isabelle Li lost in the quarter-finals of the girls' singles event. In a tough 50-minute battle that went for seven long games, Isabelle exhausted her energies and ideas but was still unable to taste victory.

In the opening game, Isabelle got off to a shaky start allowing Kim a 3-0 lead. Isabelle only started responding to Kim’s attacks when she was 5-7 down and leveled up 7-7. Isabelle and Kim then exchanged the lead twice before Isabelle wrapped up the first game 11-9.

Despite having a one-game advantage, Isabelle fell into an erratic mode and committed too many mistakes to give Kim a 7-1 run in the second game. Isabelle attempted to crawl back into the game but was not enough to stop Kim from finishing her off with a score of 11-7.

The climax of the match arrived in the third game when Isabelle had taken a convincing 10-4 lead, but Kim then miraculously scored 8 consecutive points to turn the table around to steal the game from Isabelle.

In the 4th game, Isabelle maintained her cool to take the set, 11-8. Isabelle, however, seemed to have lost her concentration in the fifth game as Kim polished her off 3-11 with a mere 3 minute 35 seconds. Kim showed her eagerness to finish off the match as she went into the sixth game in full offensive mode, but it was Isabelle who impressed the crowd with her ability to attack and defend well under pressure to take the game 11-8 and leveled the tie up once again, 3-3.

The match was tied 3-3 before the Korean went on to win the final set 11-7. A costly slip while trying the retrieve the ball in the seventh and final set of the Table Tennis Girls' Singles Quarter-finals proved to be the downfall for Singaporen paddler.

Earlier in her round of 16 game against Iran’s Rahman Mohammad Pour Soulmaz, who was cheered on by an army of supporters comprising of her team mates and officials, Isabelle breezed through the match winning in three games of 11-4.




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