Paddlers wary of Polish threat

PICTURE: ST

Going by the formbook and the world rankings, Singapore should have an easy time against Poland in the Round of 16 of the table tennis women’s team competition today.

The Republic enter the competition as the reigning silver medallists, and are ranked third in the world and beat China to the World Team Table Tennis Championships title in 2010 – the first outfit to do so in a decade.

And, following a lacklustre season this year, Singapore’s No. 1 and world No. 8 Feng Tianwei signalled her return to form when she thrashed Japan’s Kasumi Ishikawa 4-0 in the women’s singles bronze-medal match on Wednesday.

In contrast, Poland are 12th in the world, with their top player Li Qian ranked only 30th.

But try telling that to the Singapore team of Feng, Wang Yuegu and Li Jiawei. The trio were all business here yesterday as they went through final preparations in their quest for another Olympic team medal.