BIRMINGHAM - Singapore's road to regaining the Commonwealth Games table tennis women's team gold is now trickier after the draw for the knockout round on Saturday (July 30).
A likely encounter with Australia awaits in Sunday's semi-final, setting up an intriguing battle as the Aussies have two new naturalised players in China-born Liu Yangzi and South Korea-born Jee Min-hyung, who play with backhand pimpled rubbers that create a lot of changes in terms of spin.
Coincidentally, it was on the Gold Coast four years ago that Singapore saw their perfect streak of team golds in 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014 end with a shock 3-1 defeat by India in the final.
But despite the challenges ahead, Singapore's paddlers want to reclaim their title. With top player Feng Tianwei rested on Saturday, Zeng Jian, Wong Xin Ru and Zhou Jingyi swept St Vincent and the Grenadines 3-0 earlier in the day at the National Exhibition Centre Hall 3 to top Group 1 with a perfect record of three wins to make it to the last eight.
Later in the day, they thrashed Guyana 3-0 in the quarter-finals, and will play Australia, who beat Canada 3-0 in their last-eight clash - in Sunday's semi-finals.
After winning her singles and doubles match with Zeng Jian here, Wong felt she and her team have sufficiently adapted to the competition environment and atmosphere to make a charge.
The 20-year-old said: "Australia are definitely one of the top teams. Their standard as a whole is high and we definitely feel the challenge.
"However, we are aware that encountering strong teams like Australia and India are inevitable in our quest to fight for the gold medal. Hence, regardless of the draw, we will bring out our best fighting spirit and performance."
In the men's team event, Singapore were drawn to meet Canada in Sunday's quarter-final. If they win, they will meet England or Cyprus in the final four.
They beat Barbados 3-0 on Saturday to finish second in Group 3 following a 3-0 win over Northern Ireland and a 3-0 defeat by defending champions India on Friday.
Like Wong, 16-year-old Izaac Quek also just made his Games debut and won his singles and doubles match with Koen Pang against Barbados.
He said: "I feel especially honoured and happy to play for Singapore at my first Commonwealth Games. If I play, I will give my all to fight against my opponent. As the youngest player, I have nothing to lose and everything to learn and gain against some strong teams here.
"But whether I play or not, I can still contribute in terms of team preparation and I will do whatever is required of me to the best of my abilities to help the team do well."
