Tuesday, February 24, 2009
10:35 AM
Cracking the Whip
New coach Zhou wastes no time drilling players technically, physically

THEY are the world's second-best women's table tennis team, having won the Olympic silver medal.

But there is still plenty of room for improvement, and the new head coach of the Singapore women's team, Zhou Shusen, is wasting no time taking his charges' skills to the next level.

The training regimen enforced by the 67-year-old Hangzhou native, who took over the reins a month ago and has been tasked with delivering two Olympic medals at the 2012 London Games, has led to the team spending an hour more each day training on the court.

National paddlers like world No. 6 Feng Tianwei and Yu Mengyu now train six hours a day.

Zhou explained: 'There are many technical aspects in the players' games that we can improve on.'

Not wanting to disclose too many details of his training methods, he indicated that he has been drilling his players on their offensive game - taking the ball early and attacking it on the rise to give opponents minimum reaction time.

They have also been working on returning serves more aggressively.

Changes will not happen overnight. 'But over time, they will have more dimensions to their game,' said Zhou - the coach who nurtured Olympic and world champion and world No. 1 Zhang Yining.

Starting next month, former national paddler Jing Junhong will assist him in his duties after she was appointed the deputy coach of the team yesterday.

The Sydney Olympics women's singles semi-finalist will be seconded from the Singapore Sports Council to join the Singapore Table Tennis Association (STTA) for a two-year period.

STTA president Lee Bee Wah said: 'Her familiarity with the strengths and weaknesses of our women players will complement the recent appointment of Zhou.'

Their first major test will come in April when they will lead their troops to battle in the World Individual Table Tennis Championships in Yokohama, Japan.

The world's best paddlers will feature at the biennial event.

While the Olympics might be the most prestigious title for paddlers, achieving honours at these championships is a taller order because of the stronger field.

Table tennis powerhouses China, whose players occupy the top five slots in the women's world rankings, are allowed to send a maximum of seven paddlers for the women's singles, whereas the number is capped at three in the Games.

For the Singapore players, it has been a time of adjustment.

Feng said: 'Training has been good. The coach is attentive to every detail. But I'm still trying to get used to a new style of coaching.'

The STTA's high performance manager, Eddy Tay, believes that while it would take players about six months to adjust to the new training methods, they have already started to show improvements.

Zhou believes in the benefits of sports science and sports medicine, and works closely with strength and conditioning coaches to plan gym and physical training routines, said Tay.

'The players are fitter now,' he noted. 'Zhou has what it takes to bring out the best in them. He is not only a coach but also a mentor.'

Tay added that Zhou's communication and management skills have featured prominently in fostering team spirit.

The German Open next month will kick off competitive action on the Pro Tour Circuit for the likes of Feng, world No.7 Li Jiawei and world No.8 Wang Yuegu.

After that, they will undergo a month-long centralised training stint in China before the World Individual Table Tennis Championships.

Zhou will be hoping to better the result of 2007, when Li and Wang won a bronze in the women's doubles.

He said: 'I've challenged the players to deliver one more medal from the World Championships within four years.'

(Source: The Straits Times)
Sunday, February 22, 2009
7:34 AM
World Table Tennis Championships - Singapore sending her Largest Contingent in history
Singapore will be sending a eleven strong contingent to the upcoming World Individual Table Tennis Championships which will be held in Yokohama, Japan.

Our Men's Team will comprises of China-borned Gao Ning, Yang Zi, Cai Xiao Li and the young and potential Pang Xue Jie, while the female team will consists of 3 time Olympian Li Jia Wei, Feng Tianwei, Wang Yue Gu, Sun Bei Bei, Yu Meng Yu and 2 local borned teenagers Sim Kai Xin Zena and Li Siyun Isabelle.

Feng Tianwei is targeting for a Semi-Final finish to clinch a Bronze Medal, while Li Jia Wei feels that she has a chance in the Singles as well if she is in good form. Li is currently still recovering from her knee injury. This event will be good exposure for our young paddler, especially Li Siyun Isabelle, who is likely to represent Singapore in the Asain Youth Games this year and Youth Olympics next year.

Our paddlers will be competing in the Indian and German Pro Tour Open before departing for a month long centralised training in China in preparation for this event.

The best our paddlers have done so far in this event is in 2007 where Li Jia Wei partnered Wang Yue Gu to win the Bronze Medal in the Women's Doubles Event.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
10:17 AM
New Timepiece for our Silver Medalist
Our table tennis Olympic medallists were rewarded with Omega timepieces by the luxury watch brand at the company’s Raffles City outlet yesterday.

Omega has previously rewarded Li Jiawei, Lee Wung Yew and Ronald Susilo with a timepiece each before the Beijing Olympics. At that time, they mentioned that whoever clinch an Olympic Medal for Singapore will be rewarded with one timepiece each. They kept their promise and our paddlers had their time pieces presented by Singapore National Olympic Council Vice-President Ms Annabel Pennefather.

The value of each Omega watch is estimated at around $3,000. Our paddlers were given 10 odds watches to choose from last month.

Coincidentally, Li Jiawei and Feng Tianwei chose the same watch, while Wang Yue Gu opted for a Female Timepiece instead.

Wang Yue Gu will be presenting her watch to her mum and she said that this will be an Olympic souvenir for her mother, who’s here in Singapore with her.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
7:59 AM
ITTF Doha Junior Open - Medals and More Medals for Isabelle
In the final of the Cadet Girls' Singles competition against Yang Ha Eun, Li Siyun Isabelle lost 11-7, 11-7, 11-4 and settled for Silver. Interestingly, this young lady from Korea was coached by her mother, and she proved to be one of Singapore's strongest opponent in the Youth Olympics next year. She not only clinch the Gold in the Cadet Singles event, she defeat those aged above her and won the Junior Girls' Singles Title as well.

Meanwhile, it was another sad ending for our Boys. Pang Xue Jie and Chew Zhe Yu Clarence both suffered a first round defeat in the Junior and Cadet Boys' Singles Event respectively. Pang Xue Jie lost to yet again another Korean Jang Woo Jin whilst Chew faltered against Hmam Adem in straight games.

In the Doubles Events, Isabelle grab another Silver Medal with Swedish Lund Josefin. They lost to Korean Kim Min Gyung/Yang Ha Eun. In addition, Pang Xue Jie manage to win a Bronze Medal, together with his Korean Teammate Jang Kyu Tae in the Junior Boys competition. Chew Zhe Yu Clarence and Tay Jit Kai miss a step to a Bronze Medal, losing to Top Seeds Cho Jae Jun/Kim Dong Hyun, also from Korea.

Our youth paddlers will be making more international appereance as they prepare for the Youth Olympics and gun for more ranking points.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
12:20 AM
ITTF Doha Junior Open - Another Medal for Isabelle
Li Siyun Isabelle team up with Lund Josefin from Sweden to clinch Bronze once again in the Junior Girls' Team in Doha. They appear top in the group, overcoming teams from Egypt, Russia and Host Nation. However, in the second stage of the event, they lost 3-1 to another team from Russia and settled for Bronze. In the last match, Li lost by the narrowest margin against Russian 15 year old Noskova Yana. She faltered 11-13, 10-12, 12-10, 11-13.

On the other hand, our boys failed to win any medal. Cadet Boys' Team comprising of Chew Zhe Yu Clarence and Tay Jit Kai made it to the 2nd round before losing to Iran by the faintest margin of 3-2.

Pang Xue Jie participated in the Junior Boys' Event together with Korean Jang Kyu Tae. Both of them also suffered a Quarter Final defeat. They lost to Egypt with a score of 3-1.

Singles Events will begin later today.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
10:43 PM
ITTF Bahrain Junior Open - Silver for Isabelle
2nd Seed Li Siyun Isabelle lost to South Korea's Yang Ha Eun in the Finals of the Cadet Girls' Singles and settled for Silver.

The Top Seed beat Isabelle in straight games, 11-9,12-10,11-4. Li became the biggest winner of our contingent, winning a total of 1 Silver and 1 Bronze. In addition, she achieved a Top 8 position in both the Junior Girls' Singles and Doubles events.

Meanwhile, our male paddlers suffered early exits. In the Junior Boys' Event, Pang Xue Jie's progress was blocked by another South Korean Kim Dong Hyun. Chew Zhe Yu Clarence suffered 1st round defeat against Assar Khalid from Eygpt, while Tay Jit Kai failed to qualify for the Main Draw.

In the Cadet Boys' Event, our male paddlers continued their poor form. Chew Zhe Yu Clarence lost to Jang Woo Jin of South Korea and Tay Jit Kai perished in group stage. The pair lost to 2nd Seed Indeherberg Julien/Jean Lauric in the 2nd round of the Junior Boys' Doubles Event.

Lets hope that our paddlers will achieve better results in their next Junior Open in Qatar!
Friday, February 6, 2009
6:31 AM
ITTF Bahrain Junior Open - More has to be done to achieve medals in the Youth Olympics
Our paddlers failed to achieve good results in the Junior and Cadet Team Events after the 2 days competition. It is a worrying sign for our paddlers as 3 of them are preparing for the Youth Olympics, yet such a result shows that there is still a big gap to be bridge between them and other strong teams such as China, Hong Kong and South Korea.

Our Cadet Boys' Team, consists of Chew Zhe Yu Clarence and Tay Jit Kai earned a place in the Top 6 position after achieving an 2nd position in the Group Stage (they lost to Hong Kong Team A). They then lost to Hong Kong Team B in the Knock-Out Stage and settled for a Top 6 position. Pang Xue Jie was eliminated in the Group Stage after achieving the last position in the group.

Li Siyun Isabelle and Pang Xue Jie had to team up with paddlers from other countries since they are the only Singaporean Participants in the Cadet Girls' and Junior Boys' Team Event.

The results for the more experienced players were more relieving.

Isabelle paired up with Alqasimi Fatema from the host nation to clinch a Bronze Medal. Isabelle performed better than what the team had achieved. Li has never lost a single game against her opponent (refering to Singles, not Doubles)!

Matches for the Singles Event will begin today.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
10:26 PM
February World Ranking - World Ranking Remains...
Having given Slovenia and Danish Open a miss, our paddlers had only gain some Ranking Points from the Tounaments of Champions compeition. Li Jiawei decrease the gap between Feng Tianwei but most paddlers did not experience a change in their ranking.

Feng Tianwei continues to lead, with Jiawei and Wang Yue Gu following closely in the 6th, 7th and 8th position respectively. Sun Bei Bei is currently ranked 27th and Yu Meng Yu at 40th. Gao Ning dropped one position to 22 while Yang Zi remain at 39. Ma Liang, Liu Zhong Ze and Cai Xiao Li are ranked 143, 171 and 173 respectively.

Our Youth Olympians to be, Li Siyun Isabelle and Chew Zhe Yu Clarence are ranked 8th and 118th in the U15 ranking.
Monday, February 2, 2009
9:19 PM
Paddlers Prepare for Youth Olympic Games
In preparation for the Youth Olympic Games which will be held in Singapore in 2010, Singapore Table Tennis Association has drawn up a plan which includes overseas training and compeitions to improve our paddlers skills and World Ranking.

Youth Olympic Team paddlers Chew Zhe Yu Clarence, Tay Jit Kai and Li Siyun Isabelle will be gunning for more ranking points as they make their first international appearance after the Beijing Invitational Compeition this year. The Bahrain and Doha Junior Open will be a good test of their skills after the intensing training in China, Zhen Ding.

Pang Xue Jie, who has been drafted into the National Team recently, will also be joining forces with them, as they face strong competition from other countries such as Hong Kong and South Korea.

Lets wish our promising paddlers all the best in their trip to Bahrain and Qatar.




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