By Kenneth Tan
Singapore's Women's squad will face a crunch quarter-final clash against top seeds China tomorrow afternoon (August 3) at 1.30pm (SGP time) in the Team event. That's after the trio of Feng Tianwei, Lin Ye and Yu Mengyu overpowered their French counterparts 3-0 in the Round of 16 this morning.
At the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, the Republic’s paddlers – seeded 6th – had too much experience, strength, prowess and worldclass quality as opposed to France’s Stephanie Loeuillette, Prithika Pavade and Yuan Jia Nan. The European underdogs only gained entry into the Olympics, after accepting the team quota reallocation from North Korea, following the latter's participation due to fears over COVID-19.
Starting off with the Doubles, 25 year old Lin Ye – making her Games debut – and Mengyu paired up well as they downed Stephanie Loeuillette and Yuan Jia Nan with a 3-0 sweep. Playing the best-of-5, the duo (ranked 12th in the world as a double pairing and 5 places above the French) did face some resistance in Game 3, when they trailed 4-6 at one stage. But they came through 13-11 and gave the Republic a 1-0 lead overall.
Generally, it was all smooth-sailing until the Singles encounters when world no. 9 and 34-year-old Tianwei came up against 390th-ranked Prithika Pavade. In what looked like a total mismatch, the latter – who is of Indian origin and playing on her 17th birthday (today) – stunningly took the first 2 games. However, Tianwei – playing at her 4th and possibly final Olympiad – roared back to win the next 3 to avoid a huge upset. Final score was 3-2 . As for the French teenager, she will be one to watch when the Olympics heads to Paris in 2024.
With a 2-0 lead and their Quarter-final tickets already sealed, it was Mengyu’s turn to feature next as the world no. 47 came up against 95th-ranked Yuan Jia Nan in the 3rd and final matchup. Each player took a game apiece, before the 31 year old Singaporean paddler hit the form, that saw her claim her best-ever finish (fourth) in the singles the previous week. Mengyu struck a series of decisive shots en route to clinching the next two games to win her match 3-1, and guaranteeing the Republic of a 3-0 overall victory.
The Republic’s paddlers will now turn their focus towards the huge meeting with China tomorrow as they look to progress into the last 4 of the team competition. The Chinese trio of Chen Meng, Sun Yingsha and Wang Manyu smashed their Austrian counterparts 3-0 earlier on Sunday (August 1) to make the quarters.
Singapore will be underdogs for that one. However, should they upset the odds against the top seeds, they will be huge favourites to reclaim the podium finishes, which they achieved back in Beijing 2008 and London 2012.
Women’s Table Tennis Round of 16
France 0-3 Singapore
Lin Ye/Yu Mengyu (SGP) beat Stephanie Loeuillette/Yuan Jia Nan (FRA) 11-6, 11-5, 13-11
Feng Tianwei (SGP) beat Prithika Pavade (FRA) 8-11, 6-11, 11-3, 11-8, 11-3
Yu Mengyu (SGP) beat Yuan Jia Nan (FRA) 11-8, 7-11, 11-5, 11-8
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