Tokyo Olympics: Singapore, seeking new medal hope, to face China in table tennis quarter-finals after emphatic France win
- Singapore, still without a medal at Tokyo 2020, advances to the last eight in the women’s team event
- Formidable China to provide a stern test in the quarter-finals at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium
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Boosted, but only slightly; the victory catapulted them straight into a clash with top-ranked China in the next round.
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Singaporeans are now looking through their 23-strong roster to identify where their next-best chance of medal glory lies, in order to maintain the nation’s proud record of having secured medals at the past three editions of the Games.
It had never won a single medal before its women’s table tennis team secured silver at the 2008 Games in Beijing.
The best medal hope might again rest on the shoulders of the women’s team.
The last-16 victory over France was a clean sweep. First, the pairing of Lin Ye and Yu Mengyu overcame Stephanie Loeuillette and Yuan Jia Nan 3-0 in just 24 minutes. Then Feng Tianwei staged a fine comeback from 0-2 down against Prithika Pavade to win 3-2 and put the Singaporeans firmly in the driving seat. Finally, Yu downed Yuan 3-1 to smooth their passage.
In their last-16 match, the scintillating Chinese team of Sun Yingsha, Wang Manyu and singles champion Chen Meng needed just 50 minutes in total to dispose of Austria 3-0.
They will pose a serious test for the Singaporean trio when they meet on Tuesday afternoon.