Denise Payet is “speechless” to be returning from her first Commonwealth Games with a bronze medal.
The Enfield 16-year-old was part of the squad which won team bronze, although as the fourth-ranked player did not get any game time.
Instead, she supported Tin-Tin Ho, Kelly Sibley and Maria Tsaptsinos from the bench and in the practice hall as they won their group matches and quarter-final and then bounced back from semi-final defeat by India to beat hosts Australia in the bronze medal play-off.
Payet got to make her playing debut in the singles competition and made a confident start, defeating Ruqayyah Kinoo of Mauritius 4-0 (11-2, 11-4, 11-7, 11-2).
Her second game was an impressive 4-1 (11-6, 14-12, 9-11, 11-8, 11-6) victory over Ishara Madurangi of Sri Lanka, who at world No 349 is ranked almost 300 places above Payet at 631.
In the last-32, she beat world No 266 Grace Yee of Fiji 4-0 (11-4, 11-3, 11-2, 11-7), but her run was ended in the last-16 by Mo Zhang of Canada, ranked 26 in the world, who won 4-0 (11-3, 11-4, 11-7, 11-6).
Payet played alongside Sibley in the women's doubles and they lost 3-1 (8-11, 11-7, 11-4, 11-5) in the last-16 to Zhang and Alicia Cote of Canada.
Payet also played in the mixed doubles alongside Sam Walker, beating Javen Choong and Karen Lyne of Malaysia 3-1 (12-10, 11-6, 8-11, 11-2) in the last-16 and bowing out in the quarter-finals 3-0 (11-4, 11-5, 11-5) to eventual champions Gao Ning and Yu Mengyu of Singapore.
Payet said: “It was my first big games and it’s been great. Coming third in the team – I’m speechless being part of that.
“I’m so happy for the girls. They definitely kept me on the edge of my seat. I can’t describe how happy I am to be in the team and I thank them for welcoming me and making me feel part of the team.
“Our bench spirit was unbelievable and I tried to give them everything I could from the bench to lift them.
"In the singles, I’m happy with the last 16. I beat two ranked much higher than me, so I’m quite happy with that.”
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