Table tennis: Eight years after starting poly, Clarence Chew has yet to graduate but he's going to Tokyo Olympics

Clarence Chew became the first Singapore-born paddler to qualify for the men's singles competition at the Olympics. PHOTO: ST FILE
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SINGAPORE - In 2004, Clarence Chew received a gift from International Table Tennis Federation honorary president and former world champion Xu Yinsheng, who was also his mother Chen Shuping's coach in the China national team in the late 1970s.

It was an autographed ping pong bat and on it Xu wrote: "Train well to participate in the Olympics. Be diligent in learning to be an all-round talent."

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