Coast tennis star saviours Olympic experience
Thu 05 November 2009
Sam Tollison-McIntyre, Bachelor of Journalism
A dream four years in the making has finally been realised for Sunshine Coast local Jamie Zafir after just returning home from the Deaflympics.
It was heartbreak four years ago after just missing out on the Australian team, no such problems this time around as Jamie Zafir, of Mooloolaba, comfortably qualified for the 21st Deaflympics with solid results during the 2008 Australian Deaf Games.
The Deaflympics is the major event on the international deaf sports calendar and one of four large-scale sports games held under the auspice of the International Olympic Committee. Its events are similar to those of the Olympic Games and are governed by the same rules.
Over 4000 athletes from 91 countries competed over 10 days with Deaf Tennis Australia saying it was “Australia’s best ever result”.
After qualifying, Jamie had to wait almost a year before the games started.
“Once I qualified for the Deaflympics I could not sit still for a whole year, I was so excited at the thought of representing my country as well as going overseas,” Mr Zafir said.
With publicity over the event in Australia relatively low key, that was far from the case in Taipei. The theatrics of the opening ceremony were of Olympic standard in their presentation, imagination and sheer organisation. The Opening Ceremony took two years to plan and cost $US18 million, with famous international pop stars featuring in both the opening and closing ceremony.
The opening ceremony featured martial arts film star Jet Li who kicked off the event with a blessing and the recognition of the victims from Typhoon Morakot.
Clearly still excited from representing his country, Jamie believes his first overseas trip was a once in a lifetime experience. “It was like a dream come true, the whole experience was the best thing to ever happen to me,” Mr Zafir said.
The Closing Ceremony consisted of seating 4000 athletes and officials in the middle of the main Stadium at traditional round banquet tables and serving each and every person a traditional 10-course Taiwanese feast.
With the opening ceremony out of the way Jamie was the first Australian tennis player out on court. With a tough knockout format for the games Jamie had to beat senior Japanese player Tetsuya Matsushita to advance to the next round.
After losing the first set 3-6, Jamie put in a mighty effort to claim the second set in a tie break, however he was unable to keep up the momentum in the third set, going down 1-6.
Not the result he was after, however he was still pleased with his efforts in the singles. “While I wanted to win, the main reason I went to the Deaflympics was for the experience”.
“It was a good feeling meeting athletes from other countries and the spirit in which the games were played,” Mr Zafir said.
Fellow Australian John Lui from Sydney breezed through his first two rounds in the singles, however was knocked out in his next match against eventual Gold medallist Mikael Laurent from France.
In the doubles, Jamie teamed up with John and was up against British pair Daniel Tunstall and Jamie King. In a closely fought battle, the Englishmen prevailed 7-6, 6-4. “Neither of us played as well as we could have against a well-trained and thoroughly committed English pair. We have not had many opportunities to play together so we were unsure of how to play, move and what tactics to use sometimes,” Mr Lui said
John is hoping more training with his doubles partner Jamie will lead to greater results in the future, something currently made difficult by the distance between each other. “Jamie and I definitely had a below-par performance and in the future, we hope to play better in doubles,” Mr Lui said
Jamie received numerous sponsorships to make his Olympic dream possible, including donations from the University of the Sunshine Coast, Lions Rotary Club, the Australian Communication Exchange, Tennis Australia and the Queensland Government. “I would like to thank all the people who made my trip possible and for all their support, without them it would have been hard financially to make it over there,” Mr Zafir said
Back from Taipei Jamie now has to turn his focus back to study with only one semester left from completing a degree in computer based art and design at the University of the Sunshine Coast.
For the future he has his sights firmly set on the 2010 World Deaf Championships which is to be held in Las Vegas. “I have been watching Poker Stars to prepare myself,” Mr Zafir said.
Image(s) designed by Sam Tollison-McIntyre