Gao Ning salvages pride with men’s singles gold
At the end of a day of table tennis competition filled with shock and tears, it was left to Singaporean warhorse Gao Ning to salvage some home pride by winning the men’s singles gold medal.
The 32-year-old made light work of Filipino Richard Gonzalez, beating the 44-year-old 4-1 (11-6, 11-9, 9-11, 11-8, 11-3) to give 1,000 fans at the Singapore Indoor Stadium something to cheer about on Thursday (June 4) evening .
In the morning, Team Singapore were left reeling after world No 4 Feng Tianwei failed to make it past the women’s singles group stages.
This also means the Republic’s quest for a clean sweep of all seven gold medals ended on the fourth day of the table tennis competition.
Hours later, 19-year-old Clarence Chew lost 3-4 to Gonzalez in the men’s singles semi-final despite holding a 3-1 lead.
While he won many hearts with his bravery, persevering despite injuring his left master arm, Chew left the arena in tears after coming so close to making the final.
The competition continues with the men’s and women’s team event on Saturday (June 6).
Read the full report in our print edition on June 5.
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