Yu Mengyu through to last four in Table Tennis, Badminton duo bow out from Tokyo
Image credit: SportSG via Alexander Nemenov/AFP
28 July 2021, Tokyo, Japan - Singapore's Tokyo 2020 Olympic medal hopes were kept alive when Yu Mengyu made it four wins on the trot and booked herself a semi-final berth in the Women's Singles competition for Table Tennis.
There was no luck in badminton however, as both Loh Kean Yew and Yeo Jia Min saw their Olympic journey this year come to an abrupt end, as the duo fell to Indonesian Jonatan Christie and Kim Ga-eun respectively.
Image credit: SportSG via AFP
TABLE TENNIS
Paddler Yu Mengyu has qualified for the semi-finals of the women's singles table tennis event in Tokyo, after defeating Kasumi Ishikawa of Japan 4-1 (8-11, 11-5, 14-12, 11-6, 11-2) in 47 minutes.
The result means she has surpassed her previous Games' performance, with her last outing at the Rio Olympics in 2016 seeing her reach the last eight before being elimited by North Korea’s Kim Song-i.
This is also the first time a Singaporean has reached the semi-final stage of an Olympic Games table tennis singles event since Feng Tianwei at the London 2012 Olympics.
Image credit: SportSG via AFP
BADMINTON
Over at the Musashino Forest Sport Plaza, Singapore shuttler Yeo Jia Min was knocked out of the women’s singles badminton competition when she fell against South Korea’s Kim Ga-eun 21-13, 21-14.
Yeo had a 3-1 head-to-head record against Kim coming into this match, having won their last two encounters in 2019.
The South Korean stormed into a 11-6 lead at the interval of the first game, and sealed victory in the first set after just 13 minutes.
She then raced into a 4-0 lead in the second set, and pulled further ahead after Yeo threatened a brief comeback winning two points on the trot.
In the Men's Singles, Loh Kean Yew put up a great fight against Indonesia's Jonatan Christie in the men's singles badminton group stage, but was still eliminated eventually after keeping pace with Christie for much of the match.
Christie took the first set 22-20, before Loh came back to take the second set 21-13. Despite start strong in the decider, Loh eventually succumbed to Christie, who took the victory at 21-18 to eliminate the Singaporean shuttler.
Image credit: SportSG via Peter Parks / AFP
SAILING
In sailing, dynamic duo Kimberly Lim and Cecilia Low competed races 4 to 6 today in the Sailing - Women's Skiff 49er FX. Sitting on 63 net points, Lim and Low are currently ranked in 16th position out of a field of 21 competitors.
They will be back in action this Friday, 30 July for races 6 to 9.
Image credit: SportSG via Peter Parks / AFP
Meanwhile, Amanda Ng competed in the Women's Windsurfer RS:X races 7 to 9 and has clocked 185 net points to date after nine races.
She is currently ranked 26th out of a field of a field of 27 competitors and will be back in action tomorrow for races 10 to 12.
Image credit: Kong Chong Yew, SNOC
SWIMMING
In swimming, Singapore swimmer Quah Ting Wen began her Tokyo Olympic campaign today with her first swim, competing in the Women's 100m freestyle heats.
She clocked a time of 56.36s to finish in 36th position out of a field of 51 competitors, and missed out on a place in the semi-finals.
Quah will next compete in the Women's 50m freestyle heats this Friday, 30 July.