Singapore has all but won its second-ever Olympic medal, after their women’s table tennis team beat South Korea 3-2 to advance to the women’s team finals at the Beijing Olympics earlier today.
The Republic’s women table tennis team, consisting of Li Jiawei, Wang Yuegu and Feng Tianwei, will contest for the Gold Medal this Sunday (to be played at 7.30pm) against the winners of the China and Hong Kong game played later tonight.
Semi-Final results
Feng Tianwei (SIN) bt Dang Ye Seo (KOR) 11-5, 11-5, 11-2
Kim Kyung Ah (KOR) bt Li Jiawei (SIN) 5-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-6, 11-9
Wang Yuegu/Li Jiawei (SIN) bt Park Mi Young/Kim Kyung Ah (KOR) 11-7, 11-6, 11-9
Dang Ye Seo (KOR) bt Wang Yuegu (SIN) 11-8, 14-12, 11-9
Feng Tianwei (SIN) bt Park Mi Young (KOR) 11-7, 12-10, 3-11, 11-9
Read more about our Women table-tennis team triumph below.
A medal for Singapore finally!
IT HAS been a 48 year wait, but Singapore have finally clinched their first Olympic medal since 1960.
The Republic’s paddlers, led by two stunning victories by Feng Tianwei, beat South Korea 3-2 in the women’s team semi-finals at the Beijing University Gymnasium on Friday.
The team of Li Jiawei, Wang Yuegu and Feng have advanced to Sunday’s final (to be played at 7.30pm) and are now guaranteed at least a silver medal.
World No 9 Feng finished off as she started, beating world No 21 Park Mi Young 11-7, 12-10, 3-11, 11-9 in 47 mins.
Earlier, she had given Singapore a dream start when she crushed world No 26 Dang Ye Seo 11-5, 11-5, 11-2 in the opening clash of the best-of-five match team event.
The tie was then levelled 1-1 when world No 6 Li lost 11-5, 8-11, 11-9, 6-11, 9-11 to world No 11 Kim Kyung Ah in a thrilling 56 min-long encounter.
It was the same player the Singaporean had lost the singles bronze medal to at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
But Li bounced back from that defeat and partnered Wang to victory over Park and Kim in the doubles rubber, powering to a 11-7, 11-6, 11-9 win in just 28 mins to put the Republic 2-1 up.
The South Koreans levelled it again at 2-2, after Dang beat World No 7 Wang 11-9, 14-12, 11-9 in 33min.
But, finally, with the hopes of a nation on her shoulders, 21-year-old Feng produced a performance of maturity and composure beyond her age to send Singapore’s women’s table tennis team into the record books.
A weightlifting silver in the 1960 Rome Olympics has stood as the city-state’s only Olympic medal.
Singapore will face the winner of a semi-final to be played later on Friday between China and Hong Kong. If Singapore’s women lose the championship match on Sunday, they would still take home the silver.