S’pore upset Hong Kong to advance to table tennis women’s team q-finals at Asian Games

NAGOYA – Up against a more experienced and higher-ranked Hong Kong side on Sept 22, Singapore’s young table tennis players put up a commendable showing at the Asian Games on Sept 22, when they stunned their rivals with a comeback 3-2 victory in the women’s team roundof 16.

This marks 15th-ranked Singapore’s return to the quarter-finals at the Asiad, after they were eliminated by Chinese Taipei in the last 16 at the previous edition in Hangzhou three years ago.

In a repeat of their World Team Table Tennis Championships last-16 match, which they lost 3-1 in May, they will take on world No. 4 South Korea in the quarter-finals later in the day. Another upset win will secure them at least a joint-bronze.

Against world No. 9 Hong Kong at the Sky Hall Toyota, Singapore rested Zeng Jian – their highest-ranked women’s singles player at 49th – and fielded a young team with debutantes Loy Ming Ying (125th) and Tan Zhao Yun (109th) alongside Ser Lin Qian (83rd).

Meanwhile, the Hong Kong team comprised Doo Hoi Kem (35th), Su Tsz Tung (63rd) and Ng Wing Lam (81st), who were quarter-finalists at the world team championships.

Su drew first blood when she came from behind to beat 15-year-old Ming Ying 3-2 (6-11, 11-5, 7-11, 11-5, 11-6), but 21-year-old chopper Tan held her nerve to draw level with her own 3-2 (9-11, 11-6, 11-5, 6-11, 11-5) win over Doo, who is ranked 74 rungs above her.

Hong Kong reclaimed the lead as Ng edged 20-year-old Ser 3-2 (7-11, 13-11, 11-7, 13-15, 11-7), before Tan came to Singapore’s rescue again by beating Su 3-0 (11-8, 11-8, 11-5) to force a decider.

Ming Ying then shocked Doo – who has a Tokyo 2020 Olympics women’s team bronze and seven bronze medals across multiple world championships – 3-1 (11-2, 13-15, 11-5, 11-9) to complete the team’s comeback.

“Zeng Jian’s form has not been ideal, so I thought we could try to fight with younger players who did well against India in the group stage,” Singapore’s women’s table tennis head coach Jing Junhong told The Straits Times after pulling off a tactical masterstroke to drop 19-year-old Zeng and field the trio of local-born and lower-ranked players.

“They played with good game intelligence and technique, and were resilient and resolute against stronger opponents.

“To upset Hong Kong was really tough. In the face of a very stiff test, Ming Ying beat a very experienced Hoi Kem in the final match, while Zhao Yun was as steady as we hoped she would be. It will be another tough match against South Korea later on, but we will try our best.”

Meanwhile, the 25th-ranked men’s national team lost 3-0 to world No. 46 Iran in their last-16 match.

Noshad Alamiyan beat Josh Chua 3-1 (10-12, 11-7, 11-8, 11-7) and Benyamin Faraji downed Izaac Quek 3-1 (6-11, 11-7, 11-2, 11-7), before Nima Alamian completed the sweep with a 3-2 (11-5, 11-5, 9-11, 15-17, 11-4) win over Koen Pang.

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Kimberly Kwek joined The Straits Times in 2019 as a sports journalist and has since covered a wide array of sports, including golf and sailing.

David Lee is senior sports correspondent at The Straits Times, focusing on aquatics, badminton, basketball, cue sports, football and table tennis.