The defending champion, China’s Lei Lina retained her Women’s Singles Class 9 title, when she emerged success in London’s ExCeL Exhibition Centre in the early evening of Monday 3rd September at the London 2012 Paralympic Games.
Occupying the no. 1 seeded position in the draw, she accounted for Turkey’s Nesliham Kavas, the no.3 seed, at the final hurdle.
Lei Lina, calm and in control of her emotions throughout, recorded a full distance five games win (11-8, 8-11, 7-11, 11-5, 11-7).
Equally, Nesilham Kavas, the bronze medallist in Beijing, remained focus and in control of her emotion in a supercharged atmosphere.
Support
The Turkish supporters gave their all in support of Nesliham Kavas; they tried to will her to victory with rhythmic chanting; it was not to be, Lei Lina held firm.
Sent Off
Such was the support for Nesilham Kasvas, that one enthusiastic supporter sitting as near as he possibly could to the action, was given the red card by the umpire!
Can an umpire do that?
Loud Deep Voice
The errant Turk with a voice louder than any ship‘s hooter that had ever sailed from London Docklands, the location of the ExCeL Arena, was sent the back of the tiered seating.
He went not the back of the tiered seating but to the halfway point of the press area.
We tried to emulate the umpire by issuing a red card but all we could find was an orange covered notebook as a substitute. It didn’t work.
The one man out of tune male voice choir continued to yell a diatribe of unintelligible exultations.
Salvation
However, there was salvation.
Lei Lina raced into an early lead in the fifth game which gave our friend laryngitis and although Nesilham Kasvas recovered somewhat, the final verdict was never in doubt.
Felt Good
"I felt really good about my performance; I just focused on her strategy for the game”, said Lei Lina. “I didn't think about the final; the gold medal is an achievement for all the years of practice and all the time that I have spent, my coach has a lot of confidence in me."
In addition the technical skills of Lei Lina are in true Chinese tradition of a high level; they withstood the pressure.
Lost Concentration
"In the first game I was fairly relaxed, then I lost concentration but then, I just focused on myself and tried my best”, added Lei Lina. “There were a lot of pressures on me; I can't think at the moment, it is all really exciting!"
Worthy Opponent
Exciting Lei Lina adopted a very calm approach throughout and was well aware that she had beaten a very challenging opponent.
"She was really strong and she put a lot of pressure on me”, continued Lei Lina. “During the game I didn't think about the result, I just focused on the performance; I think that I have fulfilled my job, I have enjoyed the Games in London, all the Chinese team performed really well, we are really satisfied, even our coach."
Nervous
The result was as predicted; most certainly for Neliham Kavas, the silver medal was more than satisfactory.
"I was nervous at first because I lost in the group against her three nil; I have never won against her but this time it was close”, said Neliham Kavas. “I played with all my heart, but silver is still very good
Bronze for China
Success for China in the Women’s Singles Class 9 gold medal duel and there was also success for China in the bronze medal contest.
Outstanding Record
Liu Meli, the no.2 seed, beat Claire Marie of France, the no.8 seed, the claim the third step of the medal podium; Liu Meli won in four games (11-8, 11-2, 15-17, 11-6) and thus added to her very impressive Paralympic record.
In Women’s Singles Class 9, she won silver in Sydney and Beijing; in Athens bronze.
