SINGAPORE'S dream run in the table tennis mixed team competition ended with a 0-2 semi-final defeat by China yesterday.

But the quartet of Clarence Chew, Tay Jit Kiat, Isabelle Li and Chau Hai Qing still had much to cheer about.

Despite the loss, they still ended up with the bronze medal as there is no third-place play-off in the competition.

In fact, the sixth seeds had secured the Republic's first table tennis medal as early as yesterday morning with their 2-0 quarter-final win over fifth seeds India.

Isabelle opened the proceedings with an 11-3, 11-3, 9-11, 11-7 win over Mallika Bhandarkar.

The 200-strong Toa Payoh Sports Hall crowd started to rumble as they sensed victory, and Clarence duly delivered the goods by beating Arnab Adhikari 11-7, 11-4, 12-10.

Coach Xu Xiangdong was understandably pleased with his charges' efforts.

'This was a crucial tie. There was a lot of pressure but they handled it well,' he said.

With the weight off their shoulders, the host team were subsequently able to express themselves freely against China.

But despite their best efforts, the top seeds proved too strong.

Girls' Under-15 world No.1 Chen Meng stretched her unbeaten record against Isabelle to three encounters, with an 11-9, 11-7, 11-8 victory.

With boys' U-15 world No. 1 Yin Hang looking on from the Chinese bench, Cheng Jingqi, ranked two rungs below Yin Hang, then defeated Clarence 11-8, 7-11, 11-4, 11-6.

But Clarence, 13, was still satisfied despite the loss. He said: 'I played one of the best matches of my life today.

'There was a fleeting moment after the second game when I thought I could cause an upset, but that was snuffed out pretty quickly.'

North Korea will now face the overwhelming favourites in the final after edging out Chinese Taipei 2-1 in the other semi-final.

As for the Singapore Sports School students, they have the opportunity to return to winning ways in the mixed doubles today.

If they overcome Japan's Asuka Machi and Rika Suzuki in the quarter-finals, Singapore will be assured of another medal.

Interestingly, this will be the second meeting between the two teams this week as Xu had arranged a training session between the two teams on Tuesday, a day before the start of the AYG competition.

Clarence and Isabelle won the friendly match in straight games - a feat they are eager to repeat today.

Isabelle said: 'It definitely gives us more confidence.'

With the boys' and girls' singles also starting today, medal celebrations will have to wait.

Clarence said with a smile: 'We've to sleep early and prepare for our upcoming matches.'