Back to Athens!

Man, it almost feels like Singapore has changed drastically over the just transpired weekend. The biggest event that had captivated the imagination of most Singaporeans, young and old, must have been the Athens Olympics Table Tennis (Women) Semi-Finals. Ow, Li Jia Wei was just points away from a silver medal then! Many people feel the waste, but for me, she has already done well enough. What matters in sports is not only medals, but more importantly the spirit of sportsmanship, to respect both your defeated opponents, and more so, the people who have got that many a point (or decimals of a point) over yourself.

What was certainly heartening and indeed notable i guess would be that our national sportsmen, both Li Jia Wei and her beau Ronald Susilo managed to edge out the World No. 1 and 2 respectively, in order to advance to that stage. That to me is already tantamount to winning a gold medal by itself (sorry, I can't give them the complimentary 1 million Sing thou).

What is interesting to me is, the Olympics, and specifically the events in which Li and Susilo have been defeated, does speak volumes about human life and endeavour.
1) That both players, were able to beat TOP world players, even though they hail from a small country such as ours, cries out "David beats Goliath!". The story of how the "small" can edge out the "huge", especially in sports, but also in real life, cant be emphasised enough.

2) That both players, after beating top players, were knocked out by seemingly lesser opponents, speaks volumes about how quickly and fickly "Lady Luck" can turn away her glance from anyone. And that isn't to say that the both of them were defeated unfairly. It's just that it seems that they weren't prepared (from what i see, it's psychological) to take the opportunity (after defeating top seeds) presented to them. Li Jia Wei, especially, was nail-bitingly close to securing both the silver and later the bronze medal, however to me, it seems that she tried too hard to contain her emotions in the semifinals, and let go too much in the 3rd place playoffs. If you watched both matches, you might have felt the same way. Such is the power of emotions, that the slightest of deviation in its management, could mean the difference between success and failure. (At least that's what i think :) )