Edghill continues to make history with 1st Olympic win
Guyana’s first ever contest in Table Tennis at the Olympic Games resulted in a win, following a stellar performance from table tennis star Chelsea Edghill.
Edghill, who made it to the Tokyo Games on a ‘Wild Card’ position, made the most of the opportunity on Friday night. The 24-year-old came up against Yee of Fiji in the Preliminary Round of the women’s Singles’ event at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium on Table One. Yee, a second time Olympian, has three silver and one bronze medals at the 2019 Pacific Games, none of which fazed Edghill.
Edghill played her way to a win in the first set, of the ‘best of seven’ game 11 points to 5. However, Yee, who previously featured in the Rio, 2016 Olympic Games, spurred a bounce back win, taking the second set 11-4.
Chelsea Edghill won her first game at her first Olympics (Getty Images)
However, the Guyanese player was having none of it, as she took the third set 11-3.
The fourth set, though a bit closer, went similarly for Edghill, as she won 11-6.
Noticing that it could all be over in the following game, Yee got up on the first point, but couldn’t hold on to the momentum she needed to trump the Guyanese. The Smalta Brand ambassador did as winners do, taking the fifth set, and the game 11-8.
With the advice of Coach Idi Lewis, Edghill’s match statistics were pristine, winning 48 points as compared to Yee’s 33. She won 25 points on serve (Yee, 17) and lost 16 (Yee, 23), her biggest lead in the game was by 8 points, while the most consecutive points she scored was 6.
Chelsea Edghill in action against Fiji’s Sally Yee (Getty Images)
Having won the preliminary encounter, Edghill now moves on to Round One of the Women’s Singles event. There, she will come up against South Korea’s Yubin Shin. Their match will get underway today from 7:15 am at the same venue.
This is also Shin’s first Olympic Games, being the youngest ever South Korean Table Tennis player at the Games at 17 years old.
Meanwhile, Boxer Keevin Allicock will also make his Olympic debut today in a featherweight bout against the Dominican Republic’s Alexy de la Cruz. Their fight will go down at the Kokugikan Arena, starting at 6:06am local time. (Jemima Holmes)
