Singapore out of World Team Table Tennis Championships
REPORTING FROM SHAH ALAM
The Singapore women's table tennis team exited the World Team Table Tennis Championships at the Malawati Stadium today (March 4) after a 3-2 quarter-final loss to North Korea.
Playing with obvious discomfort, world No. 8 Feng Tianwei took on chopper Kim Song I in the first singles.
The 29-year-old Singapore displayed tremendous fighting spirit to come back from two games down to win the match 3-2; she lost the first two games 14-12 and 11-9, but fought back from 7-10 in both the third and fourth games to win both sets 12-10, before taking the decisive game 11-8.
But Yu Mengyu, who had found her groove in her last two matches against defensive specialists in this competition, was hasty at times against Ri Myong Sun in the second match. The world No. 34 Singaporean lost 11-9, 11-9, 11-4 to Ri to allow North Korea to draw level at 1-1.
The Koreans then took the lead when Ri Mi Gyong dispatched youngster Yee Herng Hwee with a 11-1, 11-6, 11-6 win in the third singles.
Feng, 29, returned to the table in the fourth singles against Ri Myong Sun to keep Singapore in the tie with a 11-5, 5-11, 11-9, 12-10 victory.
Yu did better in the rubber match against Kim, but could not switch tactics quickly enough in the fourth and fifth games. Yu lost the match 11-5, 8-11, 3-11, 11-6, 11-7 to gift the tie to North Korea.
A tearful Yu said: "I felt I did quite well in the match... but I couldn't adapt my tactics quickly enough in the last two games against Kim.
"I feel a little guilty for my results."
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