Singapore took on the Republic of Korea in the quarterfinals at the women’s table tennis team event. It was an absolute thriller which went all the way to decide the winner. Feng Tianwei gave Singapore the lead (3-0) before Jeon Jihee leveled it for Korea (3-1). The Koreans edged the tantalizing doubles clash 3-2 before Singapore’s Zhou Yihan won her singles match 3-0 to bring the tie to a decider. In the end world number four Feng, doing just about enough to win it 3-1 and send Singapore to the semifinals.
Feng gives Singapore a great start
Feng started off proceedings for team Singapore taking on Republic of Korea’s Suh Hyowon. The Singaporean had a terrific start getting off to 5-0. She mostly went for placement rather than power against the defensive Suh in the first game. Feng was also returning well and the Korean struggled to win any points on her serve. Suh was no match to Feng as the Singaporean breezed through the opener 11-2.
Feng was firmly in control of the rallies dictating play forcing Suh to work harder to stay in them. The Korean turned up the match when she slammed a forehand with venom showing she can attack winning the point for 3-6. It seemed to unsettle Feng though as errors started to creep in the Singaporean’s game and soon a five-point gap was reduced to just one as Suh hit back for 6-7. The Singaporean increased her power and pace and edged the second game 11-9 eventually.
It was an explosive start to the third game with both players being aggressive. Feng added more pace and power in her forehands and Suh once again trailed 4-9. Suh, however, was finding an extra gear racking up five points in a row to draw level yet again. The Korean was giving it everything but she couldn’t hang on though as Feng eventually got the job done outhitting Suh with power to clinch the game 12-10 and give Singapore a 1-0 lead.
Aggressive Jeon levels it for Korea
Jeon stepped up next to try and get it going for Korea against Yu Mengyu. Both players were trading aggressive shots and the Korean took the lead for the first time at 6-5. It was a tight game with little to separate the two but it was the hard-hitting Jeon who got to game point first at 10-8. Despite earning a yellow card, the lower ranked Jeon gave Korea the lead in the second match.
The Korean was working Yu all over the place and she wasted no time racing to a 7-1 lead in the second game. Yu was struggling to combat the aggressive shots and Jeon maintained her grip in the game to pull ahead 2-0.
Holding a 5-1 lead for Korea, it looked over for the Singaporean. However, Yu was finding her game now drawing level for 7-7 before edging ahead for the first time for 9-8. And the Singaporean finished the comeback with some huge forehands to win 11-9 and get herself back in the match.
Yu kept it close in the fourth game but Jeon pulled away for 9-4. And the Korean was too good in the end leveling the tie for the Korea 1-1.
Koreans take the edge in an epic doubles encounter
Jeon and Yu returned to compete in the doubles match with Yang Haeun and Zhou Yihan respectively. The Singaporeans took a 4-1 lead before the Koreans fought back and opened up a big lead for 10-4. Yu and Zhou saved three of those but the gap was too big and they trailed 1-0.
The Koreans asserted their control cruising to grab the second game 11-4 to open up a huge lead. However, the match started to heat up as the Singapore pair came right back taking the third one 11-4 with some great table tennis. The fourth game got a lot tighter and despite trailing in the beginning the Singaporeans fought back strongly to take the game 12-10 and force the decider.
In the decider, it was the Koreans who surged ahead to a 7-2 lead as the Singapore pair started to make errors. Yu and Zhou were still fighting and reduced the deficit 5-7 but the Koreans kept their nerves to eventually see it out 11-7 giving Korea the 2-1 edge in the tie.
Zhou performs well under pressure to force the decider
In a must-win match for Team Singapore, Zhou stepped up to go up against Suh. The defensive Suh once again struggled to find her groove as she trailed 6-10. She summoned up some great shots to save two game points but the power Zhou gave Singapore the lead in the fourth match.
Zhou was taking control of the match running away to a 5-0 lead in the second game, leaving Suh to scramble around. However, errors from the Singaporean allowed Suh to reduce the lead just two points. Zhou though composed herself to grab the game 11-9.
Likewise, in the third game, a similar pattern of play occurred with Zhou racing to a huge lead before being pegged back by Suh to 7-8. Her aggressive play paid off as Zhou sealed the match to level the tie 2-2.
Yang and Feng square off in a high-quality battle with Feng coming up tops
Yang and Feng faced off in the last match and it was the Singaporean asserting her dominance in the opener to cruise 11-3. Yang eventually found her foothold in the match troubling Feng with some of her shots to even out the contest 1-1.
Yang was riding the momentum and took the lead in the third game. The world number four was not going to let it up climbing back with some patient play to level the game 7-7 before earning game points at 10-8. However, it was some terrific table tennis from Yang standing tall to save both the points. Yang was resilient hanging tough to save game points while creating one of her own. Both players traded game points but it was Feng who turned up the power to seal the all-important third game 16-14 on her sixth game point.
Time was running out for the Korean as she fell behind 2-7 in a must-win game. Feng continued to have the edge in their rallies and conjured up six match points. She remained composed to see out the decider for Singapore.