Table tennis: Singapore women beat Czechs to make quarter-finals of World C'ships

Singapore's Zeng Jian prevailed with her variety and quality of shots to win 3-0 against Katerina Tomanovska. PHOTO: AFP
World No. 195 Wong Xin Ru gave Singapore a 2-1 lead when she beat Marketa Sevcikova. PHOTO: WORLD TABLE TENNIS

SINGAPORE - The Republic's women continued their march at the World Team Table Tennis Championships in Chengdu, China on Wednesday, beating the Czech Republic 3-1 to progress to the quarter-finals.

They will meet Chinese Taipei, who beat India 3-0, for a place in the semi-finals next.

Singapore trailed early in their match against the Czechs, as world No. 130 Zhou Jingyi's valiant display was not enough against 28th-ranked Hana Matelova, the 17-year-old going down 3-1 (11-8, 9-11, 11-6, 11-9).

World No. 54 Zeng Jian, Singapore's top-ranked player at this event in the absence of 18th-ranked Feng Tianwei, then had to be on her toes to overcome Katerina Tomanovska.

Despite being ranked 206th, the Czech put up a good showing to lead 9-5 in the first game and 5-2 in the second and third, before Zeng prevailed with her variety and quality of shots to win 3-0 (12-10, 11-9, 11-9).

Up stepped world No. 195 Wong Xin Ru, 20, to give 2010 champions Singapore the lead when she beat 404th-ranked Marketa Sevcikova 3-0 (11-7, 14-12, 11-7).

Zeng, who has not lost a match at this tournament, returned to the table to claim her sixth win in six days as the 25-year-old overwhelmed Matelova 3-0 (11-6, 11-4, 11-7) to seal overall victory for Singapore.

The 25-year-old said: “From being quite clueless and helpless at the SEA Games to getting used to being one of the key players at the Commonwealth Games, I feel I have grown a lot. 

“Add to this process the daily training, and my game has gotten a lot tighter and sharper, which helps me be more confident in matches even in difficult situations.

“The coaches put a lot of trust in me, and I feel I can still do better to help the team achieve good results.”

Wednesday's result means the team have improved on their previous performance at the 2018 edition when the likes of Feng, Yu Mengyu and Lin Ye were stunned 3-2 by Ukraine in the round of 16.

They last claimed a medal in 2014, when they reached the semi-finals to claim the shared bronze.

National women’s coach Jing Junhong said: “Today, we were up against a traditional European team that play away from the table with powerful, quality strokes, which can be quite oppressive. 

“But we were nimble in our tactics and technique and demonstrated resolute fighting spirit and a strong desire to win.

“It will be another tough match next, and we will prepare as best as we can in terms of strategy and psychology.”
 

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