Chew's 'historic moment'

He is seven years older than his opponent but, having lost the 2019 SEA Games men's singles final to Koen Pang, Singapore's Clarence Chew, 25, felt like the underdog going into the final of table tennis' Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament in Doha yesterday.

But, despite his anxiety, he walked away with a 4-0 (11-7, 11-7, 15-13, 11-4) victory over his compatriot, securing a spot in the men's singles competition at the Tokyo Games along the way.

In doing so, Chew became the first Singapore-born male paddler to earn the right to represent the nation in the men's singles at a Summer Games.

He told The Sunday Times: "I just tried to hype myself up more and made sure I really gave my best.

"In the end, I executed my tactics well and got the result I wanted."

An hour after the match at the Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena ended, he said that the feeling still had not sunk in.

He said: "I still can't believe it but I'm very happy to have qualified. This is a lifelong dream and I will continue to train hard, so that I can put on a good performance at the Olympics and do Singapore proud.

"This is a historic moment for Singapore and I hope this achievement will inspire the younger generation to continue working hard and, one day, it'll be their turn to represent Singapore."

While he was happy to be in action again after a lengthy Covid-enforced hiatus, he admitted that it took a bit of getting used to when he resumed competing in international events earlier this month.

He has been in Doha, where he took part in two World Table Tennis events, followed by the World Singles Qualification Tournament.

"The environment and atmosphere are totally different and different players have different playing styles, so adjustments had to be made," said the Republic Polytechnic student.

"I just wanted to slowly condition myself to perform better by persevering and practising what I've been doing well.

"Hopefully there will be more international events before Tokyo, so that I can have the feel of it again."

He rated his performance at the March 18-20 tournament a seven or eight out of 10 and hopes to improve his receiving, footwork and physical strength.

On his goals for the Tokyo Games, Chew said: "It's an honour just to be there but, of course I want to put up a good performance.

"I'll take it one match at a time and, if I can get good results, that would be the best also."

Chew and Pang had topped their respective groups in the South-east Asian contest at the tournament, winning their semi-finals on Friday to set up an all-Singaporean final, thus guaranteeing a spot for the Republic in Tokyo.

Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong congratulated the pair in a Facebook post ahead of the final, calling it "truly a proud moment for Singapore".

National men's coach Gao Ning added: "Both athletes have worked so hard to be here and, as a coach, it was the best feeling in the world to be able to see the results of this effort.

"This incredible accomplishment by Clarence is a dream come true for me. Now, (what) we need to do is to focus and continue this success into the Tokyo Olympics.''

The China-born Gao was the last male paddler to represent Singapore in the singles at a Summer Games, donning the nation's colours at the 2016 edition in Rio. He was eliminated in the second round.

Ellen Lee, the Singapore Table Tennis Association's president, called the result an extraordinary feat and inspiration to all.

"We are so proud of Clarence's achievement. We are so happy for Clarence and his family and all who have played a part in his journey... I hope this will spur many of the younger generation of players to dream big.''

The Singapore women's team of Feng Tianwei, Yu Mengyu and Lin Ye have already booked their spot at the July 23-Aug 8 Games.

World No. 10 Feng and world No. 48 Yu will also contest the women's singles.