Singapore's Men's and Women's Table Tennis teams have both qualified for the knock-out stages of the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships
20 February 2024, Busan, Korea - Singapore men's table tennis team sealed its passage to the knockout stages of the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships with 3-0 victory over Canada today, while the women's team did likewise after overcoming Serbia 3-1 earlier this morning.
Singapore’s male paddlers ended their ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships group stage with a comfortable 3-0 win over Canada, and sealed their qualification to the knockout stages as Group 7 runners up behind Slovenia.
Koen Pang got the ball rolling when he sealed a straight sets victory over Simeon Martin, 11-5, 11-7, 11-6.
Izaac Quek then gave Singapore breathing space when he clinched point number 2, also beating Matteo Martin in straight sets, 11-2, 11-2, 11-9.
Finally, Clarence Chew faced off against Jordan Shamsher Grewal, and he too beat his Canadian opponent in straight sets, 11-5, 11-6, 11-6.
Women Paddlers Start Ball Rolling
Earlier today, Singapore's women's team had already qualified for the knockout rounds when they defeated Serbia 3-1.
Singapore’s women paddlers may have made a slower start to the championships than expected, but worked hard to qualify for the knockout rounds too, delivering when it mattered most.
Jing Junhong’s charges rallied from a match down to defeat Canada 3-1 yesterday afternoon, before defeating Serbia 3-1 earlier this morning to seal their passage to the knockout rounds.
Zhou Jingyi once again started things off for Singapore, and facing Serbia’s best player in Sabina Surjan, the 18-year-old put on a gritty showing but was unable to overcome her Serbian counterpart, eventually losing in straight sets, 8-11, 8-11, 7-11.
Zeng Jian, despite losing the first set, kept her cool to win in the next three sets to defeat Izabela Lupulesku 9-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-3, levelling the tie at 1-1.
Wong Xin Ru clinched Singapore’s second point when she beat Andrea Todorovic in a hard-fought match, winning in straight sets, 11-8, 14-12, 11-9.
In the penultimate match, Zeng once again delivered, prevailing 11-5, 14-12, 12-14, 11-4 over Surjan.
Jing Junhong, National Women’s Head Coach said, “Today was a hard-fought victory, and I think our players did well overall. We achieved our goal of qualifying from the group stage, and we will continue to do our best in the knockout stages.”
Zeng added, “After we fell behind, I was feeling nervous but I told myself if I could win my match, then our team would still stand a chance of winning. I was feeling confident, and I am pleased to have managed to contribute to the win today.”
The draw for the knockout stage will be conducted later tonight.