Singapore advanced to the gold medal match of the women’s table tennis team event yesterday, outlasting South Korea 3-2 in a tense semi-final highlighting their opposite styles of play.
The aggressive Singaporeans tried repeatedly to win points with high speed returns whizzing with top-spin, while South Korea’s Kim Kyung-ah and Park Mi-young — the world’s top defensive players — countered with backspin-heavy chops that seemed to float across the net.
After Singapore’s Feng Tianwei won the final point in the three-and-a-half hour contest, she jumped in the air as coach Liu Guodong ran onto the floor and squeezed her in his arms. Liu, the older brother of China coach Liu Guoliang, later bent his head down and kissed the table.
PHOTO: AFP
The win guarantees at least a silver medal for the tiny city-state of Singapore, whose last Olympic medal was a silver in weightlifting in 1960.
“We haven’t won a medal in 48 years. I’ve been anticipating this match since the Athens Olympics,” Singapore’s Li Jia Wei said. “For us to get the finals, we feel like we’ve already done really well.”
The closest match in the afternoon contest featured the best players on the two teams — No. 11 Kim and No. 6 Li. The pair strung together numerous long rallies that were cheered by the pro-Singapore crowd, who pounded inflatable thundersticks and rattled plastic abacuses.
Li tested Kim’s tactic of patiently returning shots with a chop and waiting for her opponent to make a mistake. The Singaporean would maintain the slow pace for a few volleys, then abruptly change speeds and stab at the ball with a forehand.
Kim won 5-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-6, 11-9. She raised both fists after scoring the last point, then crumpled to the ground in relief.
The final match, which determined who would battle for gold and who would end up with bronze at best, pitted Park against attacking player Feng Tianwei.
The South Korean made spectacular saves, but was ultimately unable to contain Feng, whose expertly placed shots had Park chasing slams that bounced 3m past the table, then scurrying forward as the next return dribbled just over the net. Feng won 7-11, 10-12, 11-3, 9-11.
No. 4 South Korea will play in the bronze medal round against the US after they defeated Romania 3-1. Japan were also in the running after beating Austria 3-0.
In the first-round bronze medal competition on the men’s side, Hong Kong beat Taiwan and Austria defeated Croatia.
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