SINGAPORE - Team Singapore's paddlers ended a six-year medal drought in the team event at the Asian Table Tennis Championships yesterday after clinching a bronze at the 24-team competition in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
The team of Feng Tianwei, Yu Mengyu, Lin Ye and Goi Rui Xian, who are seeded seventh, had earlier topped their group comprising Sri Lanka and Maldives to set up a quarter-final clash against fourth-seeds South Korea.
Against the trio of Jeon Jihee, Suh Hyowon and Yang Haeun in the quarter-final, the Singaporeans fought valiantly to score a 3-1 upset against the Koreans, before eventually bowing out 3-0 to China in the semi-final.
Singapore women's team head coach Hao Anlin praised his players for their upset win in the top eight, as the paddlers also exacted revenge for their quarter-final loss to the Koreans at last year's Asian Games in Indonesia.
"South Korea is one of our tough competitors and our level of play is of a similar standard," he said.
"We lost to them at last year's Asian Games, but this time round we brought our best game forward. It was not easy to beat the Koreans and our team fought point by point to beat them."
The coach also praised his paddlers for playing "exceptionally well", including world No.63-ranked Lin, who upset the 20th-ranked Jeon, 11-9, 11-4, 11-6.
"She was calm throughout the match and her tactics were also right against Jeon," said Hao.
Lin carried this confidence into the semi-final, where she took the first game 11-9 against world No.1 Chinese Chen Meng. But Chen, a three-gold Asian champion, rallied to win the next three sets 11-8, 11-6 and 11-7 to clinch the victory.
World No. 2 Ding Ning then defeated Feng (No.12) 13-11, 11-6, 11-0 before Wang Manyu wrapped up victory for the Chinese by beating 18-year-old Goi 11-4, 11-7, 11-5 to book their berth in the final.
The mighty Chinese were unstoppable in the gold medal match against Japan, routing their opponents 3-0 to clinch their seventh straight team title at the Asian Championships. Japan had to settle for silver, with Singapore and Chinese Taipei awarded the bronze.
Said Hao: "We were the underdogs against China and the main objective was to let our younger players (like Lin and Goi) gain valuable experience against the world's best players."
The coach added that the focus for his players now was to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Only the winners of the team event at the Asian Championship earn a spot in next year's Olympics, so Singapore are aiming to qualify at the World Team Qualification event in Gondomar, Portugal in January 2020, where nine spots are up for grabs.
"We need to focus on our opponents' play and prepare for them," said Hao.
"Our players also need to prepare themselves physically and psychologically, and maintain a positive attitude."
The bronze medal in the women's team event is the third for Singapore in the event at the Asian meet, after similar finishes in 2003 and 2013. The women's team also won silver at three editions of the championships, in 2007, 2009 and 2012.
Singapore's only gold medal at the Asian Championships was won by the men's doubles pair of Gao Ning and Yang Zi in 2012.
