SINGAPORE - Singapore's hopes of sweeping the table tennis singles titles for a third consecutive SEA Games have taken a hit with the withdrawal of defending women's champion Lin Ye.
The 26-year-old's old back injury has flared up, the Singapore Table Tennis Association (STTA) said on Friday (May 6), adding that she has been told by the doctor to take a break from physical training for the next few weeks.
Lin, who was born in Hunan, became a Singapore citizen in 2013 and had been due to lead the women's team of Zeng Jian, Zhou Jingyi, Goi Ruixuan and Wong Xin Ru at the May 12-23 SEA Games in Vietnam.
She was also pencilled in for the women's and mixed doubles with Zeng and Koen Pang respectively.
Lin said she was suffering from severe back pain and was disappointed to pull out of the Games, which she had been looking forward to.
She added: "I have been receiving treatment for the last few days hoping to get better but it just hurts too much. I need to take some time off to recuperate. Now my focus is to get better soon so that I can be ready for the upcoming Commonwealth Games."
The world No. 101 will be replaced by Games debutante Zhou, who will be joining fellow debutante, 55th-ranked Zeng in the singles and doubles. Wong, 20, will be replacing Lin in the mixed doubles, while Zhang Wanling, 22, has been called up for the women's team event .
World No. 135 Zhou, who turns 17 on Sunday (May 8), is relishing the opportunity.
She said: "I'm looking forward to this opportunity. It is an incredible honour to play for Singapore and I will give a good performance for Singapore."
STTA president Ellen Lee said: "Our athletes' well-being is very important to us and we will support Lin in her recovery process. Lin needs plenty of rest in order to recover and we do not want to rush her recovery.
"This unexpected development will not set us back as our coaching team will re-look into our strategies and make the necessary adjustments for the upcoming SEA Games."
National women's head coach Jing Junhong also wished Lin a speedy recovery, adding that her absence will be missed.
"Lin is a key player and it is unfortunate that her old injury has flared up at this time... but I trust that the other players will come together and be united for the upcoming challenge.
"It is important for Lin to recover fully so that she can come back stronger. We don't want to rush things and our goal is to have a recovered Lin back again."
Lin made her SEA Games debut in 2013 and has seven medals (five golds, one silver, one bronze) from four Games.
At the 2019 Games in the Philippines, she upset compatriot and defending champion Feng Tianwei to win the singles gold medal.
