HANOI - The Singapore women’s table tennis team boast an illustrious track record that is the envy of the region with Olympic medals, a world title and nine straight team titles at the SEA Games.
But the defending champions – who had been unbeaten at the Games since 1999 – found the tables turned on them on Sunday (May 15), as they were routed 3-0 by Thailand in the final at the Hai Duong Gymnasium in Hanoi.
Already missing veterans Feng Tianwei, Yu Mengyu and Lin Ye, a weakened Singapore side were no match for a seasoned Thai team who included world No. 21 Suthasini Sawettabut and 2019 women’s doubles gold medallist Orawan Paranang.
National women’s head coach Jing Junhong said she was not surprised by the result as she noted the gulf in experience between both teams.
All five Singaporean paddlers were competing in the team event for the first time with Zeng Jian, 25, Zhang Wanling, 22, and Zhou Jingyi, 17, making their SEA Games debuts. The category was not contested in 2011 and 2019.
She said: “This is a young team. In terms of skills and experience, we’re not on par with Thailand but our performance was good. Through the finals, we know that our players have to raise their level of play and experience to grow as players.
“Of course we didn’t want to lose today but in the end, the opponents’ experience and quality were higher but it’s OK, we just have to work harder.”
The absence of 2019 singles champion Lin owing to a back injury had deprived the team of much-needed experience as Jing noted that the Thai team were able to focus and stay calm during crucial moments to win their first-ever women’s team gold in six attempts.
She added: “This is a new generation of players so it’s a process to build this team up to that level and in the future, we will get even better, so give the young players a bit of time.”
Olympian Suthasini drew first blood in Sunday’s final with a 3-0 (11-7, 11-9, 11-7) win over world No. 135 Zhou. World No. 112 Paranang then doubled Thailand’s lead with a 3-2 (11-4, 9-11, 8-11, 11-8, 12-10) victory over world No. 55 Zeng in a tightly-contested match.
It was then down to world No. 184 Wong Xin Ru to give the Republic a fighting chance.
Despite putting up a tough fight, she eventually fell 3-1 (11-6, 11-9, 8-11, 11-4) to world No. 118 Jinnipa Sawettabut.
Wong, 20, said: “A lot of people have high expectations of us but we’re a new generation and we need time to train and improve... there’s definitely a lot of technical, tactical and mental areas we need to work on.”
Zeng, who shed a few tears after the final, said: “I didn’t really feel any pressure but I felt it’s a pity (we lost). Although Lin Ye’s absence affected the strength of the team, we weren’t affected that much mentally.
“We got to see each team’s quality and we can bring those lessons and experience to the other events.”
The Singapore men's and women's table tennis teams will next be in action in the doubles events on Monday.
