Saturday, May 2, 2009
9:35 PM
World Table Tennis Championships - One Step Away from the Podium
Despite suffering in the Mixed Doubles Event yesterday, Gao Ning joined forces with Yang Zi to reach the Quarter Finals of the Men's Doubles Event. Feng Tianwei/Wang Yue Gu also showed determination to overcome their opponents. All they have to do is to defeat their respective adversaries in the Quarter Finals tomorrow and a Medal will be in their pockets.

In a re-match of last year's Beijing Games encounter, Feng came from 2-3 down to beat South Korea's Park Mi Young 4-3 (11-9, 11-7, 5-11, 10-12, 11-13, 11-9, 13-11) in a two-hour marathon.The defensive Park chopped her way back into contention after losing the first two games and there were fears that Feng, ranked sixth in the world, would capitulate under the pressure. Feng will be facing defending Champion Guo Yue in the Quarter Finals.

Gao Ning/Yang Zi add on to the joy. The pair defeated Russians Fedor Kuzmin and Igor Rubstov 4-3 (11-7, 11-9, 14-12, 8-11, 5-11, 11-13, 11-7). Feng Tianwei/Wang Yue Gu are also one of the 8 pairs that qualified for the Quarter Finals. Their opponents today will be Hong Kong's Jiang Huajun/Tie Yana.


However for Yu Meng Yu, she was the victim. The world No. 33 was beaten in the round of 16 by Kasumi Ishikawa, ranked 66 rungs below her. It was the 16-year-old Japanese player's first victory over Yu in three meetings. Yu lost 2-4 (9-11, 11-9, 2-11, 8-11, 11-9, 9-11) before a partisan crowd. Yu's day was further ruined when she and Sun Beibei were eliminated in the last 16 of the women's doubles. The duo were thrashed 1-4 (7-11, 11-9, 5-11, 6-11, 8-11) by Hong Kong's Lin Ling and Zhang Rui.

On the other hand, high performance manager Eddy Tay is satisfied with the paddlers results. He mentioned that Feng deserves to win after showing mental strength against a very tough opponent, and that Yu has given a good account of herself in Japan, given her relative inexperience.

Will our paddlers return with a medal? The verdict will be out tomorrow.




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