Monday, March 30, 2009
10:14 AM
World Table Tennis Championships - Local Teenagers representing the Nation for the 1st Time
Singapore will be sending her largest contingent to the upcoming World Individual Table Tennis Championships which will be held in Yokohama, Japan this coming April. For the 1st time, Singapore Sports School students will be donning on National Colours at this prestigious event. Sim Kai Xin Zena, Li Siyun Isabelle and Pang Xue Jie will be joining hands with their higher ranked counterparts to achieve another break through for Singapore. The best our paddlers have done was in 2007 where Li Jia Wei partnered Wang Yue Gu to win the Bronze Medal in the Women's Doubles Event.

Our Men's Singles which will be comprised of Gao Ning, Yang Zi, Cai Xiao Li and Pang Xue Jie. They will be facing strong competition from China, who will be sending the World's Top 3 players Wang Hao, Ma Long and Ma Lin in the Singles Event. They are further supported by Chen Qi and Wang Liqin who are also ranked among the Top 10 in the World. Other notable names to take note of includes Zhang Chao and Xu Xin, also from China, South Korea's Joo Se Hyuk, Germany's Boll Timo and Belarus' Samsonov Vladimir.

Pro Tour Grand Finals Men's Doubles Champion Gao Ning/Yang Zi as well as Cai Xiao Li/Pang Xue Jie will face strong challenge from the Chinese Oppositions as well. The Chinese will be represented by Athens Olympic Doubles Champion Chen Qi/Ma Lin and Wang Hao/Wang Liqin.

Meanwhile the Female Singles will consists of Olympian Feng Tianwei, Wang Yue Gu, Sun Bei Bei, Yu Meng Yu, Sim Kai Xin Zena and Li Siyun Isabelle. Feng Tianwei will be the 5th Seed for the event. The Top 4 Seeds will be occupied by Chinese players, Zhang Yining, Guo Yue, Li Xiaoxia and Guo Yan. In addition, teenage paddlers Ding Ning, Liu Shiwen and Yao Yan are all ready to cause upsets. Li Jia Wei has chosen to withdraw from the competition as it clashes with her wedding date.

In the Women's Doubles Event, SEA Games Women's Doubles Champion Sun Bei Bei/Yu Meng Yu will join hands once again. Feng Tianwei/Wang Yue Gu will form another dangerous pair, and Li Siyun Isabelle/Sim Kai Xin Zena will form our 1st female pair made up of defenders only in this event. Compared to our male counterparts, our female paddlers are all right handed (Pang is also a left hander). This has indirectly restricted the positioning of our female paddlers during the match. The Chinese will be sending Zhang Yining/Guo Yue and Ding Ning/Liu Shiwen. Both are made up of left and right handed. Lastly, Guo Yan/Li Xiaoxia will join their colleagues in the Doubles Event. The Koreans can also be a great threat to our Doubles. Kim Kyung Ah will once again partner Park Mi Young. This pair made up of defenders is especially strong since our paddlers are afraid of choppers.

Beside the Women's Singles and Doubles Events, our next most hopeful event will be the Mixed Doubles Event.Our team will be represented by Gao Ning/Feng Tianwei, Yang Zi/Wang Yue Gu, Pang Xue Jie/Sun Bei Bei and Cai Xiao Li/Yu Meng Yu. None of the pairs have achieve notable results. The best pair so far will be Yang Zi/Wang Yue Gu. They were crowned the Champions in the 2007 Commonwealth Championships over compatriots Gao Ning/Sun Bei Bei. China will be sending a large contingent of at least 7 pairs, but most of the pairs are made up of lower ranked players. Despite the fact, they cannot be underestimated since they still manage to win the Mixed Doubles title 2 year back.




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