New Zealand Open Diary
September 30 - October 7, 2000
Reported by MICHAEL XIA

Day 1
Our team consisted of John Tawadorous, Andrew Chak, Michael Xia and manager/coach Tony Lee. Arriving at Christchurch airport, our first impression was that New Zealand is a lot like Sydney with fewer people accompanied by a slower pace of living. After checking in to our motel, we took a short walk to the stadium. The stadium was filled with tables, but with very few people playing at that time. This confirmed Tony's belief that there are more tables than players in New Zealand. Since it was getting late, we decided to go back for an early night. Dinner was in the form of pizzas, and they were of exceptional standards.

Day 2
Waking up at 7:00am, we arrived at the stadium for a morning hit. The first event was the Teams competition and our first match was against Southland. We played well and came through with a comfortable victory. After the game we decided to go to the city where we took some photos and viewed the local church. Dinner was at a place by the name of 'Oxford on Avon' .If anyone ever visits Christchurch, it is a must go.

Day 3
Our match today was against Canterbury, who most notably had Simon Wallace, a promising New Zealand junior player. John had no problems disposing of him, and in the end we won 5-4. We had dinner at a local Chinese restaurant, and it was pretty awful. I am sure we could of have had a better meal by eating jam on toast.

Day 4
After winning our group, we had to play the winners of section B, Auckland. We fought hard, but in the end we were unlucky to go down 4-5.

Day 5
This was the last day of the team's events, and we were up against a French speaking New Caledonia team. Their team consisted of 3 very even players, all of quite high standards.We knew we were in for a tough round. After some close matches, we triumphed in a close 5-4 win. At the end of the team competition we were placed in a respectable 2nd position overall. That night we ate at the Oxford on Avon again, and the food was just as great if not better than on the previous visit, most notably the soup and the roast. We shopped around for souvenirs and some bargains were struck, such as the John's walking sheep, Chak's Crystal Kiwi, Michael's Kiwi Football and Tony's NZ T-shirts.

Day 6
Being the first day of the individual events, things were a bit hectic. It was a long day, as we had an average of 8 matches to play with John playing something like 15 matches We pulled through with some good results.

Day 7
By this time of the competition, fatigue was starting to set in. We all could not get enough of sleep and waking up at 7:00 each morning was a battle in itself. Singles games continued, and there were some great matches played.

Day 8
This was the day of the finals. We watched and cheered John on as he progressed through the rounds and won all his singles matches in astounding fashion. John eventually won some 5 gold medals after playing some 20 matches in the day. Me, Chaky and Tony had dinner that night at a great Chinese restaurant, which renewed our faith in NZ Chinese cooking. John however was nowhere to be seen after his victories!

Day 9
The competition was drawing to an end. It was an exceptional competition, both accompanied by its highs and lows. We had finished all our matches the previous day and everyone slept in. We had lunch in the city and went to the Christchurch look-out for some photos. Drama struck as Tony's borrowed car broke down and we were left stranded in the middle of a reserve. Fortunately the problem was fixed before the closing function in which I managed to win a few bucks from the pokies!

Day 10
After another late night, we struggled to get up at 5:00am and dragged our tired (dead) bodies to the airport for an early flight back to Sydney.

New Zealand Trip from Michael's Point of View

The tournament was very well organised and the system they had there was very player friendly. This was proved by the fact that they did not have an elimination system, as we do in Australia. If a player lost in the first round he would then be moved to 3rd division, and if he lost in the 2nd round than he would move to 2nd division, this gave a player a second chance and was great as we were able to play more matches.

The players were all very friendly, and were easy to talk to. The players, especially their juniors, were of very high standards. This shows that table tennis is well developed in New Zealand.

I would like to thank Tony Lee for giving up his time in coaching us for this trip. Without his guidance I am sure that we would not have won as many matches. I would also like to commend his work on the development of juniors and his love of the game.

I would also like to thank the committee members of Wah Sing for giving us the chance to play table tennis in New Zealand. It was a great experience, and one that will be remembered. I would thoroughly recommend Wah Sing sending another team(s) next year. As visits like these not only improve a player's skills, but also fuels their interest in the game and motivates them to train harder in order to improve their game. I hope more players can benefit from these trips in the future.

My thanks to John and Chak, as my time in New Zealand would not have been the same without them. My thanks also to their advice on improving my game.

The highlights of my results include, coming 2nd in the teams event, making the quarters with Chak in the doubles, and the 3rd round of the U15s, and the U17s.

In conclusion I would like to thank Wah Sing for supporting us, and to Tony for helping the juniors to develop a love for the game.