Pucadinga’s Blog

Ladies Singles Final - Welsh International 2008

The Welsh team had a stronger men’s line-up and slightly weaker in the women’s side. We knew that the tie was going to be a close one, and we had to play well to come out with a win.

The tie lasted for around 4 hours, since we were only playing on one court. The order of play were mixed, men’s singles, ladies singles, men’s doubles and ladies doubles. Losses in mixed and men’s doubles and wins in men’s singles and ladies singles meant that the tie came down to the deciding 5th match; ladies doubles. It was a tight match, but our girls eventually came through with a win in the decider, which saw N.Z. beating Wales in the final score of 3-2!

Welsh Institute of Sports Reception

The following day was the start of the qualifiers of Welsh International. Luckily no-one from the N.Z. team was in the qualifiers, so we trained in the morning and had the rest of the day to lax out, in preparation for our matches the next day.

The first day of Welsh International wasn’t the greatest for the Kiwis, as nearly everyone was eliminated either in the first or the second round matches. This is not all bad though, since these are the matches we came to Europe for, to get used to the European standards and their high pace in matches. I’m not sure about the others, but I have certainly learnt a lot already, however haven’t quite adjusted to their pace and higher standard of play.

The 2 ladies doubles pairs however made it through to the quarters (Mish, Rach and Danielle, Donna) unfortunately they have each other as opponents in the next round. I can’t help it but think that they travelled all the way to the other side of the world to play against each other! Its not all bad though, as we are guaranteed a semi-final spot.

The eventual winners were Danielle and Donna, who unfortunately lost in the semis to a Dutch pair.

Well, back to another normal day of training tomorrow, before we fly to Ireland on Monday, ready for our next test match and tournament!

Millenium Stadium - where All Blacks v.s. Wales took place

Cardiff Castle

Cardiff River, beside the institute of Sports

Cardiff Castle Side View

Cardiff Castle at night