By Stefanus Ian/Red Sports
Feng Tianwel and Yu Mengyu (red) of Singapore beat Joana Parker and Kelly Sibley of England 3–1 (9–11, 11–7, 11–2, 11–3) to win the women’s doubles gold. (Photo courtesy of STTA)
New Delhi, India, May 5-10, 2013 — Singapore continued their dominance at the 19th Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships, clinching six golds out of seven on offer. Singapore missed out on a clean sweep after Zhang Mo of Canada beat Yu Mengyu in the women’s singles final. Singapore finished the championship with six gold, two silver and three bronze medals.
Being the favourites, the Singapore men’s team wasted no time clinching their third successive title against India. The first two matches were straightforward with Zhan Jian beating Soumyajit Ghosh and Li Hu defeating Sharath Kamal Achanta without dropping any games.
The third match was more complicated. Sanil Shetty forced Ma Liang to go the full five games before succumbing. The Indian southpaw player was in pole position during the decider to close out the match at 7-4 but choked. Ma Liang grabbed the opportunity to score the next seven points and seal the title.
The women’s team have now stretched their dominance in the biennial event to seven consecutive titles. The trio of Feng Tianwei, Yu Mengyu and Zhou Yihan met little resistance from their English opponents, winning the final 3–1 while dropping just two games. Joanna Parker and Kelly Sibley managed to snatch a game away from their opponents Feng Tianwei and Yu Mengyu, before Zhou Yihan ended proceedings with an easy win over Ho Tin Tin.
The pair of Feng Tianwei and Yu Mengyu was to meet their English opponents Joanna Parker and Kelly Sibley once again in the women’s doubles final. Despite dropping the first game to the English, the outcome of the match was similar, as Singapore sealed their seventh successive women’s doubles title.
For the mixed doubles title, Zhan Jian teamed up with Zhou Yihan as they both continued their good form from the team events. The Indian pair of Soumyajit Ghosh and Mouma Das was no match for the Singaporean duo as they lost in straight games.
In the previous two editions of the competition, the men’s doubles gold has always been elusive. This year, Zhan Jian and Yang Zi finally ended Singapore’s drought by beating Christopher Doran and Samuel Walker of England. The win gave Singapore its very first men’s doubles gold since the inception of the championship.
But with Yu Mengyu failing to seal her comeback against Zhang Mo of Canada in the women’s singles final, Singapore failed to make a clean sweep. The Singaporean dug herself a deep hole dropping the first three games, meekly scoring just six points in each of them. Yu then rallied to make a comeback, winning the next three games to force a seventh. The top seed and world number five then took a three-point lead against the Canadian.
Zhang Mo, however, was having none of it as she fought hard and way above her world ranking of 164 to tie the deciding game at 8–8. It was enough, in the end, as she won the next three points to break Singapore’s hearts as they fell one short of a clean sweep for the third consecutive year.
Men’s Singles Final
Zhan Jian (SIN) bt Li Hu (SIN)
12–10, 11–7, 11–13, 12–10, 11–4
Men’s Doubles Final
Zhan Jian/Yang Zi (SIN) bt Chiristopher Doran/Saumel Walker (ENG)
13–11, 11–4, 9–11, 11–3
Mixed Doubles Final
Zhan Jian/Zhou Yihan (SIN) bt Soumyajit Ghosh/Mouma Das (IND)
11–3, 13–11, 11–7
Women’s Singles Final
Zhang Mo (CAN) bt Yu Mengyu (SIN)
11–6, 11–6, 11–6, 5–11, 10–12, 8–11, 11–8
Women’s Doubles Final
Feng Tianwel/Yu Mengyu (SIN) bt Joana Parker/Kelly Sibley (ENG)
9–11, 11–7, 11–2, 11–3
Men’s Team Final
Singapore 3 India 0
Zhan Jian bt Soumyajit Ghosh
13–11, 11–8, 11–3
Li Hu bt Sharath Kamal Achanta
11–4, 11–4, 11–9
Ma Liang bt Sanil Shetty
11–8, 9–11, 8–11, 11–9, 11–7
Women’s Team Final
Singapore 3 England 0
Feng Tianwel bt Joana Parker
11–6, 9–11, 11–9, 11–7
Yu Mengyu bt Kelly Sibley
12–10, 16–14, 8–11, 11–9
Zhou Yihan bt Ho Tin Tin
11–4, 12–10, 11–8
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