Tuesday, May 26, 2009
6:37 AM
Commonwealth Championships - 6 Titles in Total
Even without stars Li Jiawei and Feng Tianwei, Singapore's paddlers repeated their record six-gold haul at the Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships, the Men’s Doubles being the errant prize.

Top seeds, Gao Ning and Wang Yue Gu showed their class to win the respective Men’s and Women’s Singles titles at the 18th Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships in front of an appreciative Scottish crowd. The Men’s Singles event saw Gao Ning, the defending champion, clinch gold against India’s Sharath Kamal Achanta; whilst Wang Yue Gu succeeded in the counterpart Women's Singles competition. She beat national team compatriot, Yu Meng Yu, to clinch the top prize.

It was for Gao Ning a successful retention of the title he had won two years earlier in the Indian city of Jaipur, whilst for Wang Yue Gu it was one step higher; in 2007 she had lost in the final to Sun Bei Bei.

Wang Yue Gu attacking quickly from the backhand in trademark style. She won the first game in confident style, staying close to the table and forcing errors from Yu Meng Yu, as the eventual silver medallist tried to penetrate the blocking skills of the champion elect with aggressive attacking play. However, in the second game, the topspin play of Yu Meng Yu started to reap dividends as her strong strokes from both wings left both Wang Yue Gu and the crowd gasping for breath. She established a 10-5 lead and appeared to be on the path to establishing parity; from that point onwards, Wang Yue Gu was Miss Efficiency, she never put a foot wrong; whatever Yu Meng Yu offered, Wang Yue Gu provided a repost. The no.1 seed won seven points in a row and was two games to the good. It was a body blow for the no.3 seed, who earlier in the day had ended the reign of second seed, Sun Bei Bei. Yu Meng Yu recovered to win the third game but at the vital points went the way of Wang Yue Gu, the top seed prevailed.

Success for Singapore and soon after there was more success. Gao Ning proved too consistent, too safe for the explosive Sharath Kamal Achanta. The Indian paddler blazed a trail of destruction in the first and fourth games as a consistent top spin stroke from the backhand was followed by a forehand which was released with awesome power. In particular, the power was very much in evidence as he raced into a 7-0 lead in the fourth game, eventually levelling matters but in the ensuing game it was the reverse scenario. Gao Ning won the first six points, the tide had turned; gradually consistency overcame power.

Sharath Kamal Achanta, who had won gold in the Men’s Singles event at the Commonwealth Championships in Kuala Lumpur in 2004 and two years later the Men’s Singles crown in the table tennis events at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, had to settle for silver. Once again the top prize was in the hands of Gao Ning.

In the Women's Doubles Event, Top seeds, Singapore’s Sun Bei Bei/Yu Meng Yu captured gold; they beat second seeds, Sara Yuen/Zhang Mo of Canada in the final, gradually acclimatising to the combination of the two young ladies from the continent of North America. Throughout the doubles event, the long pimpled rubber on the backhand of Sara Yuen’s racket, her blocking combined with a unique short forehand stroke, alien to the purist, had created openings for Zhang Mo. However, gradually the class of the Singaporeans told, for the sixth consecutive Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships, the gold medal in the Women’s Doubles event was in the hands of Singapore. It was in the hands of Sun Bei Bei and Yu Meng Yu.

However, in the corresponding Men’s Doubles competition it was sorrow. In a match full of thrilling rallies, the Indians, seeded no.2, secured a four games victory from the Top Seeds Gao Ning/Yang Zi. And as in Jaipur two years earlier, a clean sweep of medal titles for Singapore had been prevented. Furthermore, it was the same event that had been their downfall; in 2007 Nigeria’s Monday Merotohun and Segun Toriola had been the villains.

Men’s Singles: Final
Gao Ning (SIN) beat Sharath Kamal Achanta (IND) 11-7, 7-11, 11-9, 6-11, 11-7, 11-6

Women’s Singles: Final
Wang Yue Gu (SIN) beat Yu Meng Yu (SIN) 11-8, 12-10, 7-11, 12-10, 11-9

Men’s Doubles: Final
Sharath Kamal Achanta/Subhajit Saha (IND) beat Gao Ning/Yang Zi (SIN) 11-8, 10-12, 13-11, 12-10

Women’s Doubles: Final
Sun Bei Bei/Yu Meng Yu (SIN) beat Sara Yuen/Zhang Mo (CAN) 4-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-7




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