Thursday, April 30, 2009
8:37 PM
World Table Tennis Championships - Yang Zi's Performance affected by Illness
It was joy and despair for Singaporeans in the 2nd day of the World Championships. Wang Yue Gu, the 7th Seed suffered at the hands of Strbikova Renata while 18 yer old Sim Kai Xin Zena lost to Romanian Dodean Daniela. Gao Ning, Yang Zi and Cai Xiao Li was not spared either. 

In the Men's Singles Event, only Gao Ning managed to pass the 1st Round. Cai Xiao Li was defeated by Spain's He Zhiwen, whilst Yang Zi is upset by Thailand's Sanguansin Phuchong. Yang Zi lost by the faintest margin 11-6, 7-11, 11-8, 11-13, 4-11, 11-6, 7-11. Gao Ning crashed Spain's Machado Carlos in the first round, but faltered against China's Xu Xin in the 2nd Round. He lost in straight games, 8-11 ,5-11, 7-11, 6-11.

The female counterparts enjoyed better fortunes. Despite defeats by Sim Kai Xin Zena and Wang Yue Gu in the 1st and 2nd round respectively. Feng Tianwei, Sun Bei Bei and Yu Meng Yu beat their respective opponents to reach the Round of 32. Feng Tianwei beat both her opponents with a 4-0 margin and she will be facing defender Li Jie from Netherlands. This dutch lady is unlikely to cause much trouble against Feng. Sun Bei Bei showed that she has recovered her form after a tour in the ETTU Cup. She beat USA's Crystal Huang in straight games before overcoming Hungary's Pota Georgina, 4-1. She will be taking on another lady from Netherlands, Li Jiao. Lastly, Yu Meng Yu who swept aside Erdelji Ana-Maria and Russia's Troshneva Elena will be facing Austria's Liu Jia tomorrow.

There are some more good news from our doubles. Gao Ning/Yang Zi made it to the 2nd round after ending the adventure of Turkey's Vang Bora/Zeng Cem 4-3. This Turkey pair was in Singapore to train with our paddlers for the World Championships. Gao Ning/Yang Zi will be facing Belarus' Nekhvedovich Vitaly/Samsonov Vladimir. Meanwhile, Cai Xiao Li/Pang Xue Jie perish in the 1st round after losing to Keinath Thomas/Sereda Peter in straight games.

Feng Tianwei/Wang Yue Gu and Sun Bei Bei/Yu Meng Yu continued their good form in the Women's Doubles Event. The former beat Juceviciute Ieva/Paskauskiene Ruta while the latter defeated Creemers Linda/Nouwen Carla from Netherlands. However, Sim Kai Xin Zena/Li Siyun Isabelle was conqured by Germany's Schall Elke/Wu Jiaduo.




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