Crowds greet champions
IT WOULD mean his two young daughters going to sleep much later
than usual but there was no way Mr Ray Tan and his family were
giving up the chance to greet the newly-minted world champions.
So a day after they watched Feng Tianwei and Co dethrone mighty
China for their first World Table Tennis Team Championships crown
on television, the 40-year-old teacher drove wife Fee Ling, 40, and
daughters Tricia, 10, and Megan, three, to Changi Airport.
It was a 30-minute journey from their home in Balestier and
another 45-minute wait before the paddlers emerged at about 9.30pm
after arriving on a flight from Moscow.
But Tricia, a Primary 4 pupil at Hong Wen Primary School, had an
evening to remember. She had never met Feng - whose crucial
victories over China's world No.1 Liu Shiwen and world No.4 Ding
Ning had set Singapore up for the famous win - but managed to get a
photograph with the 23-year-old.
'She's inspired me to play table tennis now,' said Tricia, amid
the din of clapping and cheers.
More than 200 supporters welcomed Feng, Wang Yuegu, Sun Beibei,
Yu Mengyu and Li Jiawei back after the team ended the Chinese
women's 17-year stranglehold on the Marcel Corbillon Cup.
-- ST
