Day Eight: Medals On the Line
by Prip
Finally, the first of the medals would be determined. Biggest match
of the day would be the women's singles bronze medal match between
Aussie darling Jelena Dokic and sentimental favourite Monica Seles.
But the boisterous Aussie crowd would have to wait for the men's
singles semifinal matches to be determined on centre court before
getting to cheer their Aussie on.
The weather was no better at 11am today than it was on previous days.
In fact, the clouds looked a lot heavier, and sure enough, it started
to drizzle. Lightly at first, but the rain picked up soon enough, and
the queues around the coffee cart curled around stadium court. $5
raincoats were selling like hotcakes, and people were milling around
restlessly. A collective groan came from the crowd when the
announcement was made that play would probably not commence for
another couple of hours, as people realized that the no pass out
policy meant that they would either have to sit and wait within the
tennis centre or take a walk around the Olympic Park and risk
missing any tennis that might be played later in the day. Most of
the people sat patiently, reading the newspaper or enjoying a glass
of wine. Ironically, three familiar songs were being played --
"Sunshine on a Rainy Day", "I Need a Miracle" and "Where's the
Sunshine".
After more than a 3 hour delay, play finally commenced. The
grounds-crew did an excellent job as usual, squeegee-ing, towelling
and blowing the court dry, paying special attention to the lines.
The crowd cheered at the sight of Jelena Dokic emerging, to give a
short interview on the mike, thanking the crowd for their support
so far. Symbolic of the local coverage of the Olympics so far --
it's all about the Aussies. Oh, and perhaps an American here or
there. Tommy Haas and Roger Federer soon came onto court amid ample
applause.
Tommy Haas (GER) vs. Roger Federer (SUI)
Haas won the toss and, of course, opted to serve. Three service
winners helped him hold serve to open the match. Federer did one
better, and got an ace to open his match, a service winner to
secure game point, and an ace to take his service game. Both
players were serving well, and that was the deciding factor in the
points, both holding serve easily. At 2-1, the rain started to fall
again, but play was only suspended for a minute or two. It didn't
seem to affect either player, and games continued to go on serve.
At 3-all, play was again suspended for a while. Haas had continued
to put in a solid performance, maintaining his serve while Roger's
first serve percentage started to drop. This was the obvious key to
the game, and serving from behind had to put an added pressure on
the Swiss. Haas had 1 break point opportunity at 4-3, but Federer
kept it alive with a service winner. Followed by a double-fault.
Tommy returned the favour with an unforced error of his own,
bringing it back to deuce. An ace from Federer set up game point,
but the Swiss lost it on a silly unforced error, and another one
set up break point #3 for Tommy Haas. A strong return set up the
opportunity for the German, and he managed to force an error off
Roger's racquet with an inside out forehand to get the crucial
break of serve.
Here, a string of errors from Federer put Haas 2 points away from
taking the first set. Totally mishitting a forehand, the Swiss
yelled "Oy oy OY!!!" (not to be confused with the Aussie "Oi oi oi"
chant), cursing himself for playing so sloppily. Another unforced
error gave Tommy the first set.
When the players went back on court to start the second set, Tommy
looked a little less tense. Trying to get the early break, he even
dived for a ball at the baseline, reminiscent of his countryman
Boris Becker in the good ol' days. Trying hard to avoid losing
serve, Federer came into net, and let a shot go only to see it land
inches inside the line, setting up a break point for Tommy. Another
"Oy oy OY" managed to pump him up, and he got an ace to save his
service game. Attacking net again, Roger had an easy volley putaway
after drawing Haas way out of court, but dumped the volley into the
net to set up a second break opportunity for the German. Roger tossed
his racquet into the air behind him in frustration, but managed to
compose himself enough to get a good serve in to get a service return
error from Haas, and an ace set up game point. Another careless
error from Federer brought it back to deuce, but he got the upper
hand again with a clean ace.
Taking a different approach, Federer got a nice dropshot volley,
but Haas was quick enough to get to it, and threw an equally good
lob over Federer's head. Showing his own footspeed, Roger could
have gotten to the ball and hit a good return with a bit of effort,
but opted to hit it between his legs instead. Unfortunately, the
playfulness cost the Swiss, and the ball just caught the tape,
bringing deuce #4. Stepping into his returns, Tommy managed to get
the break to open the set. Both players managed to hold serves
easily in the next 2 games.
At this point, the unforced errors started to creep into the
German's game. Perhaps relaxing a little too soon, a barrage of
unforced errors gave the break back to Federer. Picking his game
up temporarily, Haas set up 3 break points, but squandered them
all. A crosscourt winner got Federer out of the red, and a service
winner gave him his service game. It looked like the match might
head into 3 sets when Federer had 3 break points at 3-2, but he
couldn't convert them and Haas escaped by the skin of his teeth.
The tables were turned in the next game, Haas holding 3 break
points of his own. Just like deja vu, 3 unforced errors lost him
all three opportunities, but he managed to win the next two points
to hold serve. Heading to his chair to change racquets, he also
came back with renewed focus, and took full advantage of Federer's
errors. The next two games went by quickly, and the German was
set for at least a silver medal for his efforts. Between him and
the gold would be the winner of the match to follow between
Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Arnaud di Pasquale. The Russian who had
been so down on himself before a couple of weeks ago that he's
considered skipping the Olympics altogether would have to be
favoured in the match.
Williams/Williams (USA) vs. Van Roost/Callens (BEL) [5]
Sitting with one of the media tv monitors in front of me, I also
managed to keep an eye on the match that was happening on Court 1,
the first of the women's doubles semifinals between Williams/Williams
and Van Roost/Callens. Despite being unseeded, the Williams had to
be favoured to get through to the finals over the Frenchwomen Julie
Halard-Decugis and Amelie Mauresmo. On the other side of the draw, I
had favoured either local favourites Rennae Stubbs and Jelena Dokic
(holding home crowd advantage) or Natasha Zvereva and Olga
Barabanschikova to come through.
The Americans won the toss, and Venus Williams served first for her
team. Perhaps affected by the cold weather (well, Venus did
have the highest percentage of exposed body surface area), Venus
wasn't quite warmed up yet, and both sisters looked like they were
still thinking about their warm beds back in their hotel room(s).
The Belgians knew that they had to take every chance that came their
way, and broke Venus' serve to open the match. Els held serve in the
same fashion, and the Belgian's took a 2-0 lead. Serena had a bit
of trouble in her service game as well, but managed to avoid
conceding two breaks. Dominique held serve easily to bring it to
3-1.
Once again, Venus found herself in trouble. Down 0-30, the Americans
looked to be in big trouble, but they finally picked up their games,
and held serve convincingly. Playing a cleaner game, the Williamses
got a chance to break Els' serve, and a well-timed cross from Serena
at net got them the break back.
Serena had an easy service game, and Dominique went up 30-0 on hers,
but a good down-the-line passing shot from Serena and a bit of
over-ambition from Els at net cost them another lead. Realising that
both sisters were having a lot of trouble with low volleys, the
Belgians played 2-back, trying to get the volley error, but the
tactic didn't work, and the break of serve went to the Williamses.
Crunch time, and Venus went up to serve for the first set. The
Belgians kept with the 2-back tactic, and this time did a better
job of it. Making the Williamses play volleys no higher than their
knees, they got the break back to bring it to 4-5. Now the challenge
would be for Els to hold serve and keep her team in the set. Despite
a good effort, the Williamses were too strong, and held 3 break
points, needing only 2 to take the first set 6-4.
At this point, Dominique looked a little shaky, and started to make
some silly unforced errors. Els was trying hard to keep things
together for the team, but this is where the danger usually presents
itself in her game. When pushed, Els has a tendency to go for too
much, and usually ends up missing horribly. This time, she managed to
do a not too bad job of it, but just couldn't find a way past the
strength and athleticism of Williams X 2. All three players held
serve in the start of the second set, but when Venus went to sit
down during the changeover just after holding serve, she had her
sister help stretch her back/shoulder a little. She couldn't have
been too happy about playing in the balmy 17° weather in that outfit.
Once again, Els had trouble on her serve. Not surprising, since Els
is most definitely a stronger net player than she is on the baseline,
and vice versa for Dominique. Only managing to get one point in the
game, Els dropped her service game again, and Serena had an esay
service game to consolidate the break and move up 4-1.
The Americans really started to relax at this time, Serena even
throwing a drop-shot return off DVR's serve. At this point,
something happened that amused Dominique greatly, and she was
smiling broadly between the next couple of points. It seemed to
help her get her game together, anyway, and started to hit the
ball a lot better. Switching tactics, the Williamses decided to
target Els at net, and they took the game to deuce. A timely cross
by Venus gave them a double-break point, but a beautiful lob by
Dominique, way over Venus' head and deep enough that Serena couldn't
get to it, saved that. However, an unforced error and then a weak
lob by DVR gave the Americans their double-break, and once again,
Venus would serve to close out the set, this time for a chance at
the gold medal.
2 solid serves put the Americans 2 points away from the match, and
the crowd was ready to head to the coffee carts for something warm.
Once again, the Belgians were both back while the Americans were
both at net. A lucky net cord from DVR saved one match point when
the ball popped over Venus' head. All the pressure was on Els to
come up with a strong service return. And she came up with a gem,
a beautiful dipping cross-court backhand that not only landed at the
same depth as Venus' feet, but had too much angle for Venus to even
reach it. 30-all. DVR blew it when she smacked a service return
straight into the net. Match point. Both Belgians came into net,
but were foiled by a beautiful lob by Venus Williams over Dominique's
head. Els made a gallant stab at it, but it was beyond her reach, and
landed a foot inside the baseline. Game, set match,
Williams/Williams. Perhaps the only team that could challenge them
now would be the Belarussian Basketc-, uhmm, Belles.
Yevgeny Kafelnikov (RUS) [5] vs. Arnaud di Pasquale (FRA)
After a short break on center Court when rain threatened to cause
more delays, Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Arnaud di Pasquale came on court
amid thunderous applause. Yevgeny had a strong following in the
stadium, while the Frenchman had won the hearts of many, especially
the younger girls who had been attending the tennis. Max Mirnyi
was in attendance, instead of at Court 1 where Natasha and Olga
would soon play their match.
Both players started well, the Frenchman the clear underdog but
doing well to hold on to his service games. At 2-all, though,
Arnaud faced 2 break points, but saved them both, the 2nd with an
ace. As would happen throughout the match, an unforced error set up
another break point, which he saved with another ace. Yevgeny didn't
like the call on the serve, and went to have a word with the umpire.
The crowd didn't want any more delays in the match, but weren't too
vocal. That is, until one chap near the front yelled, "You canNOT
be SERIOUS!" which sent the stadium into a roar of laughter. I swear,
you cannot find a more entertaining crowd anywhere else in the world.
Two careless shots from Yevgeny let Arnaud escape with his service
game. As the players sat down for the changeover, Max Mirnyi headed
off, presumably to Show Court 1 where the players were halfway
through the warmup. As he left the stadium, Anastasia Myskina and
Elena Dementieva appeared, joining the 2 Russian coaches who were
already there.
Yevgeny had another easy service game, thanks to more consistent
serving from the Russian. Arnaud had a very streaky serve throughout
the game, and that was the main reason for him eventually losing the
match. A barrage of unforced errors gave Kafelnikov the break, and he
held onto that break to serve out the set.
Arnaud had a strong service game, dropping only 1 point to open the
second set. Changing his grip on the changeover didn't help him much,
but only managed to annoy the Russian who didn't look amused at being
made to wait a little longer to serve. Kafelnikov channeled that
energy, getting an ace on the way to holding serve at love, and
continued to play a more consistent game. The second set pretty much
went the same way as the first, with consistency being the key
difference between the players. Kafelnikov booked a place in the
final against Tommy Haas, and Arnaud would take on Roger Federer
for the bronze medal. The Russians were ecstatic -- two players
guaranteed at least a silver medal in singles.
Zvereva/Barabanschikova (BLR) vs. Boogert/Oremans (NED)
Meanwhile, things were going awry for the Belarussians on Court 1.
Kristie Boogert had faced 1 break point in the opening game of the
match, but a good serve out wide set up an easy volley down the
middle of the court to save her service game. Natasha's returns had
been weak throughout the tournament so far, while Olga had been
nearly flawless in that department, and that was one of the reasons
the younger player has been playing the ad side. However, Olga's
returns were a lot less flashy today -- understandable with Boogert's
strong serves, but definitely a question with Oremans's.
It should be noted that Olga had her right forearm all taped up,
while Kristie had her upper right thigh bandaged, although Kristie's
mobility didn't look at all impaired.
Olga struggled considerably on her service games, mostly because NZ
looked asleep at net, but also because the Dutch were grooving on
their returns. Getting a good number of their returns right at the
server's feet throughout the match, Olga grew increasingly frustrated.
She finally managed to hold serve for 2-all, much to her relief.
It would have been realistic to say that NZ and Olga would have had a
much better chance at breaking Miriam Oremans's serve than Kristie
Boogert's, considering Kristie's strong serves and Miriam's
capability at net. Kristie got some well-placed serves in giving her
an easy service game.
Natasha continued to play a lackluster game, and found herself down
0-30 on her serve. Amazingly enough, she got an ace to bring it to
15-30, but a nice passing shot by Kristie between the two players at
net gave the Dutch 2 break points. Another good serve by NZ set up
an easy putaway for Olga. The tension on NZ's face was obvious as
she went up to serve, and the pressure probably got to her as she
serve-and-volleyed, but pushed the volley a foot long.
The Dutch were gaining more and more confidence as the match went
on, and the fact that they had over 30 friends sitting together at
the end of the court cheering them on didn't hurt. Miriam held
serve easily, only conceding one point when Olga came in behind a
return and got a nice crisp volley right at Kristie's feet.
With NZ making more and more mistakes, playing sloppy tennis and
looking like her mind was miles away, Olga had the daunting task of
holding serve to stay in the set. She did this surprisingly well,
though, not serving particularly hard serves, but certainly placing
them well. The Dutch looked a little over-eager, but once they'd
lost the chance to break for the set, they once again settled down
and got back on track. They had come with the knowledge that the
Belarussians are capable doubles players, flashy, but also extremely
shaky, and the battle plan was to simply play steady tennis.
Miriam continued to have a strong presence at net, and was an
effective force in earning 2 set points for her team. Brimming
with confidence, Kristie Boogert tried to out-angle NZ at the net,
but the ball landed wide, extending the Belarussians' lifeline.
This time, it was Olga's turn to mess it up, though, and a lousy
service return compromised NZ's position (and maybe even her
health) at net. And there it was, the first set to the Dutch. Olga
and Natasha walked to their chairs, shoulders slumped and head down,
wondering what had they could do to turn things around. They'd had
3 break opportunities, but only managed to convert one.
This time, the Belarussians would serve ahead, and maybe this was
the slight advantage they needed to boost their games. NZ opened
the second set, but the Dutch were simply eating up her serve, and
NZ kept getting caught chasing her serve in to net. Finding her
partner facing 2 break points, Olga played more aggressively at
net, saving both break points. Only to be undone by a double-fault
by Natasha. Feeling the adrenaline, Olga once again made the right
moves at net, and saved a third break point. A better serve by NZ
gave them the opportunity to set up the point, and Belarus finally
held game point. Getting fed up of being caught coming in after her
serve, NZ stayed back until the 2nd shot, but still approached on a
shot, and was foiled at net. Deuce #3. A lousy lob from NZ nearly
got Olga killed, and the Dutch finally got the break to open the
set when NZ pushed a volley wide.
Olga and NZ must have 9 lives, though. A couple of unforced errors
off Kristie and a double-fault gave them 3 chances to break back.
Olga clinched it with a beautiful service return winner down the
line, evening it back at 1-all.
Olga was soon feeling the pressure again, unforced errors from both
players giving the Dutch 2 break points. A missed passing shot by
Oremans saved one, and a good serve from Olga set up 2 easy overheads
to save the second. A blown service return from Miriam gave Olga game
point, but the favour was returned with a double-fault. The next
point saw a second service return error from Miriam, and it looked
like Olga would finally get her service game when Kristie could
barely manage to block the service return back into the court, but
the ball came back across the net a little too high, and Miriam made
the move, slamming the ball at Olga's feet. Back at deuce, Kristie
Boogert threw a lob up, hoping for an easy way out, by Olga got to it
and got a comfortable overhead winner. Game point again for Belarus,
and an enthusiastic NZ got a little over-ambitious at net, coming up
with the error. Deuce #3. A beautiful low dipping cross-court return
from Oremans won her team yet another break point, and the game
finally went to the Dutch when a half-volley from Olga landed long.
Frustrate, Olga tossed her racquet in the air and caught it as she
walked to her chair.
Boosted by the way the match was going, Miriam got 4 strong serves
in, forcing 4 long returns from her opponents and consolidating the
break. For once, NZ had a strong service game, going up 40-0, and
both players played a strong point at net to control the damage. The
Belarussians, aided by a totally mishit overhead by Kristie Boogert,
threatened to get the break back, but fell short, and the Dutch
took a 4-2 lead amid enthusiastic cheers from the orange shirts.
Olga started her service game with a service winner, but a solid
return from Boogert forced the error off Olga's racquet on the next
point. Finally showing some life at net, a well-timed cross from NZ
at the net got them the next point, but a bad approach from Olga
evened it up at 30-all. Feeling the pressure to come up with a
strong serve, Olga went for too much, and ended up with a
double-fault. Having pumped herself up, and entertaining the crowd
in the process, NZ was finally making her presence felt in the match,
and put the pressure on the Dutch to come up with a good passing
shot. It worked, and the game went to deuce. Any confidence that the
Belarussians might be gaining, though, must have come to a stop when
Miriam Oremans brushed a lovely tight-angled crosscourt service return
that dipped right after it crossed the net. And any confidence that
remained surely evaporated when Kristie Boogert's service return was
a mirror image of her partner's shot.
At this point, for the first time in the match, I realised that there
was no way this match was going to turn around. Fully familiar with
how temperamental both Belarussians are on court, I had harboured
the thought that the NZ and Olga were fully capable of turning
things around. Surely they weren't going to have a bad day when a
gold medal was on the line!
Kristie Boogert and Miriam Oremans looked serious but not tense
as they walked onto the court, in stark contrast to the Belarussians.
The Dutch contingent were singing and clapping throughout the
changeover, entertaining the crowd more than anything else.
However, everything went silent as Kristie got ready to serve for
the match.
The teams traded points for 15-all. A better service return and
approach shot from NZ earned her team a 30-15 lead. Trying to force
the play, Kristie followed her serve in to net, and Olga lobbed the
service return, only to watch it land long. 30-all. The next point
saw all 4 players up at net, and Olga played another lob from a
half-volley, which also landed long. She redeemed herself by saving
match point with a hard service return, forcing the error off Miriam
at net. Deuce. NZ smacked the service return into the net. Kristie
Boogert served a nice wide serve, which Olga barely got to but
managed to flick cross-court, keeping her team in it. Her effort
paid off when Miriam dumped a volley into the net. Deuce. NZ hit
what surely must have been her best return of the day, a cross-court
shot that passed both players at the net. Pumping her fists in her
trademark style, NZ managed to put a smile on the face of her very
stressed out partner. Olga tried to do a repeat of NZ's shot, but the
ball landed just long. Deuce again.
The next point saw all four players up at net. Perhaps a little cocky
after out-duelling NZ in the first set, Kristie once again tried to
out-angle NZ at the net, but she didn't have a chance against a
revved up NZ. Advantage Belarus. Kristie got a good serve in, which
NZ returned cross-court. Straight into Kristie Boogert's hitting
zone. Winding up, Kristie smacked one down the line, and Olga framed
the racquet. I thought that it was a pretty good effort that she had
managed to react that quickly, but Olga obviously didn't think so.
The look on her face said it all -- she was absolutely disgusted with
herself.
Deuce once again. On fire by now, NZ ripped a service return winner
down the line, catching Miriam Oremans off-guard. Olga got a weak
service return in, which Miriam pounced on. Deuce #5. Eager to make
up for the error, Olga made the move to cross on the next point,
but couldn't do enough with the ball, and ended up leaving half the
court open. Match point #3 for the Dutch. The first serve landed
long. The pressure was on. Kristie spun a decent second serve in,
not doing much with it, but Olga smacked the ball into the net,
giving the Dutch game, set and match. The players shook hands at
net, and the Dutch went over to their chairs, grabbed their towels
and waved them in some sort of tribute to their large group of
friends/supporters in the stands amid a huge applause from the
crowd, while the Belarussians sat dejectedly in their chairs.
Finally, Olga and Natasha started packing up their bags, and barely
acknowledged the huge applause they got from the crowd as they left
the court. NZ was walking ahead of Olga, who was trying to tell an
elderly couple in the stands that she'd phone them later. Poor girl
looked like it took everything she had to keep from bursting out in
tears. As she left the court, she was mobbed by autograph-seekers
and hormone-driven teenagers wanting to take a photo with her. She
could have easily turned all of them down in her hurry to get to
the locker room, which she did at first, but as more and more of
them approached her, she put on a brave face and entertained as
many of them as she could, all the while trying to get as quickly
as possible to the locker room. NZ was way ahead at this point,
and went straight to a practice court. Something must have changed
her mind, though, as when I looked over a minute later, she wasn't
there anymore.
Back on Centre Court, Jelena Dokic and Monica Seles were just done
warming up. Monica won the toss, and elected to serve. Unlike the
previous day, Monica was hitting the ball hard and flat instead of
top-spinning the ball into the court. Serving a lot more consistently,
Monica went up 3-0 faster than Jelena could say, "By crikey!"
Jelena finally managed to hold serve in the fourth game, but not
without a lot of running around. Unfortunately for the Aussie, that
was the only game she managed to get in the first set. Monica was
simply too consistent and too strong at the baseline. Monica had the
confidence of knowing that she had the upper hand in most aspects --
she had the experience, better consistency and was definitely the
stronger between two players with extremely similar games. Jelena,
on the other hand, was missing a lot of shots, as she is prone to do.
By the end of the first set, the only people more shell-shocked than
Jelena were the Aussie supporters in the crowd.
In the second set, Jelena started to serve a lot better, getting 3
aces but also getting 1 double-fault. Getting the early advantage,
Jelena held to open the second set. Monica is no slouch in the
service department nowadays either, and barely broke a sweat in
holding serve. Both players continued to showcase strong serving,
holding serve until 4-all. Of course, as expected, there were many
long hard-hitting baseline rallies that kept the spectators at the
edge of their seats, but Monica ended up taking most of them, playing
a lot steadier than the Australian.
As the set went on, the youngster grew more and more revved up by the
crowd, pumping her fist and yelling "Come ON!" in true Hewitt fashion.
While both players were running each other from corner to corner in
the rallies, Monica had the disadvantage of being the slower of the
two, but she made up for it by generating sharper angles. Jelena would
have done a lot better if she had made Monica move up and down the
court a little more instead of just side-to-side. Finally, the
Australian started to show more variety in her game, throwing in
deft drop-shots, and while Monica managed to scramble to most of
them, she was a lot less comfortable at net than the Aussie was. In
fact, Jelena was a lot more at ease with coming in to net, another
benefit of her working with Stubbsy.
Jelena looked to be doing fine until 4-all in the second set, when
she double-faulted at 15-0. Smelling blood, Monica pounced on her
serves, taking 2 quick points to hold 2 break points. Jelena played
a little more aggressively, attacking net to save one, but was just
too streaky to save the second. Yet another errant shot cost her her
service game, compromising her chance at taking the match to a third
set.
As the players tried to catch their breath during the changeover, the
Americans once again started their "Yew, Ess, AYY" chant, but were
soon drowned out by cheers of "Aussie, Aussie" from the entire
stadium. The stadium erupted when the players stood up from their
chairs, and took quite a while to die down. Monica served, and
Jelena smacked a service return long. 15-0. The second point was
a lot longer, Jelena nearly out-rallying Monica, pulling Seles way
out of court with a cross-court shot, and going for the down-the-line
winner, but the ball landed just long. 30-0. Taking a different
approach, the next point saw Jelena throw quite a good drop shot
across the net, which Monica barely got to but pushed long. 30-15.
More solid play from the Aussie forced an error off Monica's racquet,
keeping her hopes alive. Showing true class, though, Monica hit a
clean ace that Jelena could only watch fly past her to set up match
point. The crowd erupted, half applauding Monica, urging her to
victory, the other half trying to will the Aussie into taking the
second set. It was not to be, though, as Monica slammed another ace
past Jelena Dokic, to take the bronze medal.
Showing a lot more class than her reputation suggest, Jelena had a
nice exchange with Monica at the net, and was very gracious in
defeat. I personally feel that the 6-month ban on Dokic Sr. will do
wonders for Jelena, on more ways than one, and time will tell. The
crowd showed their appreciation for both players, and once the
players left the court, the crowd started to file out. Now their
Aussie hopes would rest on the Woodies. Playing in their last match
together, the stage could not be grander. The question on everyone's
minds -- would the Woodies leave the game with the highest accolade
any sportsperson could hope to achieve...a gold medal.
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Last updated 26 September 2015
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