JOOLA USA

Yes, there are times when players have their moments of glory, but what about their moments of defeat? What happens to them when they simply have no motivation or when they feel bad after  match that they knew that could've done better, I have had many experiences when I had cried quietly. It is rather hard to write about failure, especially when you are younger.
   This Berkeley tournament was not the best for me, especially towards the end of the day. I was somehow under pressure and it made me nervous and I was already nervous to begin with. I played 5 events; one age event and four rating events. I started out playing alright but not too well. I had already lost all my matches of the event, but I tried pretty hard. But you can't linger on the past, so I looked forward and played on. The rest of the day was fine until I met this under-rated guy.
   His forehand was strong, he was tall, he was also a lefty. I felt little and helpless. I couldn't do anything except play to his backhand and he was waiting there. I played and tried until I gave up, and I knew I shouldn't have, but it's hard when you are down 2-0 losing by 3 or 4 points. Immediately I knew that I was going to be lectured, and I was right. Then I still had 2 more matches to go. Thankfully, I either won or lost a good match, so I wasn't worried after that, but the next day was basically a disaster from head to toe.
   Some people told me that I didn't play that bad, but I had a feeling that I did. Perhaps I was playing alright, until the last match. I had to play the lefty again. I must say, I did go nuts.I was scared already although I was told not to. I played and lost the match tired, and wanted to just quit,and say that I quit forever. But I knew I couldn't so I played on. I played terrible. I played like the first match with him; simply terrible. Thank goodness that Ariel and Lily were there. They helped me up again, and eventually, cheered me up. Then I had to think a little while watching the semifinals and finals. I even forgot to clap because I was thinking. I was thinking why I was playing that badly and why I gave up before entering the court. I was tired and troubled but wanted to relax so I forgot all about it and decided to enjoy the match while both the relaxation with my friends and the match lasted.

Baltimore was pretty fun. My team consisted of 4 players: Jasmine Nguyen, Ellen Hwang, Marielle Chua, and I. Our team did pretty well, all except on Friday. On that day, my team lost all team matches so we ended up in division 11. In division 11, we were the highest rated-group, and the only higher rated person in the whole division drppoed out when it was our turn to play him. Luckily, we played at our level the next 2 days. We met thsi really good group that we lost to 4-5. We ended taking 2nd  because the other group that was supposed to play the group we lost too was defaulted. Overall, my first time going to Baltimore is a lifetime experience. There was more than 250 teams that participated at Baltimore. Yet, it was rather chilly there; in the high 30 degrees. Brrrrr.