By Lim Yong Teck/Red Sports
Yang Zi (left) and Yu Mengyu of Singapore in action during the mixed doubles event. (Photo 1 © Lim Yong Teck/Red Sports)
Singapore Indoor Stadium, Wednesday, June 3, 2015 — After clinching respective doubles’ titles, Singapore’s paddlers continued their sterling form and added another gold and bronze to their medal tally in the table tennis competition at the 28th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.
Yu Mengyu and Yang Zi had an easy 4–1 semi-final victory against Vietnam’s Dinh Quang Linh and Mai Hoang My Trang, but teammates Zhou Yihan and Li Hu did not enjoy a similar fate. The pair blew an early 2–0 lead and allowed Thailand’s Suthasini Sawettabut and Padasak Tanviriyavechakul to come back for a 4–3 victory, forcing the Singaporeans to settle for the joint-bronze medal.
In the final, Yu and Yang avenged their teammates’ loss, beating the Thai duo 4–0 to clinch the mixed doubles title.
“Yang Zi had a great game today, and his level of play motivated me, and prior to the game, we didn’t expect it to be this relaxed,” said Yu.
Yang added, “We faced them before during the 2015 World Table Tennis Championships and it was a close victory for us, so this time, we made some preparations and managed to execute our plays better.”
Member of Parliament for Sembawang GRC, Ellen Lee, who was in attendance, was all praises for the table tennis team’s performance.
She said, “I think our athletes have done a great job and they are aware of the expectations of them as well.
“That is an added pressure point on them and you can see that they are trying their best to make sure we carry home the medals. Exhaustion will definitely set in for them, but of course, we hope that the ‘high’ that they are feeling because of that buoyant support for them will carry them through,” added Ms Lee, who is also the president of the Singapore Table Tennis Association.
Mixed Doubles Results
Final
Suthasini Sawettabut/Padasak Tanviriyavechakul (THA) 0 Yu Mengyu/Yang Zi (SIN) 4
(7–11, 5–11, 9–11, 6–11)
Semi-finals
Dinh Quang Linh/Mai Hoang My Trang (VIE) 1 Yu Mengyu/Yang Zi (SIN) 4
(6–11, 11–7, 4–11, 7–11, 5–11)
Zhou Yihan/Li Hu (SIN) 3 Suthasini Sawettabut/Padasak Tanviriyavechakul (THA) 4
(11–1, 11–5, 9–11, 11–6, 9–11, 5–11, 8–11)
More photos next page
On behalf of true blue Singaporeans who believe in fair play, I would like to extend my deepest apology to the Thai and Vietnamese table tennis players who lost in the finals.