Okay Sarah, this is more than sad and more than stupid. The NZOC is completely off the wall crazy. Don't they understand what sport is in the first place. I believe the people on the committee who came up with that idea must have no idea what sport is, let alone what the Olympics are about.
Lets start with some major upsets in Sports History:
On August 11th of 1951 the Brooklyn Dodgers had a 13.5 game lead on the New York Giants baseball team. An almost insurmountable lead in baseball. And the Giants began to mount a comeback that lasted right until the last day of the baseball season where the Giants ended up catching up to the Dodgers, thereby forcing a three game playoff showdown to decide who would win the pennant and go to the World Series. In the third game, the series tied one game apiece, the ninth inning came around and the Giants were down 4-1. 2 outs and 3 pitching changes later the Giants were down 4-3 with one man on and the count 3-2 to Bobby Thomson. Thomson hit a line drive to a part of the fence where there was a 3 foot gap that was lower than the rest of the fence. The ball went through the gap in the fence and into the stands. It was a walk off home run that put the Giants instantly into the World Series. There was no other part of the outfield fence where that ball would have been a home run. In early August the odds would have been something like 100 to 1 on the Giants chances to go to and win the World Series. In the ninth inning with 2 outs down by a point, the odds were still not in their favor. That home run has been referred to as the shot heard round the world. This is what sport is.
Here is a link to more detailed info on this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shot_Heard_'Round_the_World_(baseball)
With this next one, I am just going to let the video do the talking. This is American Football and the Pittsburgh Steelers before they had won any titles. This catch by Franco Harris with time running out, was called the Immaculate Reception, I am sure you will be able to see why. The video is only 2 minutes long but well worth it:
Here is the actual, original broadcast of that catch with no background details:
In 1974 Muhammad Ali was scheduled to fight George Foreman. Foremen was a huge favorite. Foreman had not only beaten but flat out destroyed everyone Ali had lost to or even had trouble with. When Ali fought him I think he was an 11-1 underdog but in Las Vegas the book makers were giving 30-1. Before the fight newscasters and sports experts were imploring Ali not to fight fearing serious injury from the strength of Foreman's punches.
Ali won every round, destroyed Foreman, toyed with him for several rounds and causally knocked him out at the end of the eighth round. In an interview years later one of his trainers said that in between rounds Ali was boasting about how he could knock Foreman out any time he wanted. His trainer said, please do it so we can go home with the title and, to his trainer's dismay, Ali said he wanted to play with Foreman for a little longer first.
In Japan in November 1990, an "invincible" "Iron" Mike Tyson faced a nobody named James "Buster" Douglas. The fight was supposed be Tyson against another tomato can who would just fall in 1 or 2 rounds at most. The fight was viewed as being a warm up for Tyson to get ready for Evander Holyfield, the number 1 contender. Going into the fight, Tyson had seemed to most to be unbeatable. His record was something like 37-0 with 32 knockouts. Douglas was a nobody, picked for the fight for just that reason. The odds for this fight were 42-1. History and the video footage shows that Douglas dominated Tyson knocked him out cold in the 10th round. Tyson was unconscious before he hit the canvas.
In 2007, the 10-6 New York Giants (football), somehow got through a weak NFC division to play in the Super Bowl. Their opponents were the New England Patriots who had a 16-0 regular season record and were vying for a perfect 19-0 season (with playoffs). With the two playoff games they had won, the Patriots were 18-0 and the Giants, having gotten to the Super Bowl via the Wild Card route, had won three playoff games on the road bringing their record up to 13-6. The Patriots were a huge favorite to win this game and it did not seem like the Giants had much they could do to stop the Patriots inevitable 19-0 perfect season. But, with 35 seconds left in the game, the Giants went ahead 17-14, and ended up holding the Patriots offense and winning the game by that score.
I will leave out some of the recent upsets that have happened in the past year of players who are not in the top 100 in TT beating players who are in the top 10. You guys all know of a few of these instances. Right?
All these upsets show that there is something more to sport than just statistics and you cannot guarantee something like a top 16 finish. It is ridiculous and antithetical to the spirit of competition. And when you let the spirit of competition thrive, amazing things like that outrageously unlikely Franco Harris catch will happen. They are rare but they are what makes sport: amazing things can happen. As Yogi Berra used to say, "It aint over till its over."
But the Olympics are supposed to be about something more than this, they are supposed to be about something more than a top 16 finish or the end results. That is crazy that even if you qualified and funded your own way, the NZOC will not allow you to qualify and compete unless you can demonstrate that you will be capable of a top 16 finish or better (top 8 for doubles). That is just totally idiotic.
I would even consider defecting. Okay, I am joking here. But it really is crazy and unsportsmanlike.
And when you are talking about the Olympics: what about things like the JAMACAN BOB SLED TEAM. I think the NZOC is out of touch and should have their heads examined. Does an organization like this have a reason to exist if they would impose that kind of restriction on competitors who, fairly, by the rules, qualified to play in the Olympic Games? Should the NZOC be allowed to take an athlete who qualifies to compete in the Olympic Games based on the ITTF's rules and the rules of the International Olympic Committee and say, that is not enough, even if you fund your trip to the Olympics yourself you cannot go unless you are in the top 16 in the world or can demonstrate that you will be able to pretty much guarantee a top 16 placement in the tournament. Yikes.
The real question should be, what function does the NZOC serve if they are restricting participation by athletes in the Olympic Games to this extent?
Is there any other country you know of that has a restriction like this on its athletes who qualify to compete in the games?
I feel for you Sarah. I guess all you can do is keep playing and keep your positive attitude in spite of the NZOC which clearly seems to be doing the opposite of helping to develop sport and the spirit of competition in your country.
Now if sports did not have this element where anything can happen, and anyone can beat anyone on a given day, or in a given tournament, then there would be no reason to play the games in the first place.
