Channel NewsAsia - Saturday, June
7
SINGAPORE: Singapore’s top table tennis player, Li Jiawei, lost
to a lower ranked player, Japan’s Haruna Fukuoka, in the
preliminary round of the TMS Singapore Open at the Toa Payoh Sports
Hall on Friday.
Li, ranked 6th in the world and seeded third for this event,
lost the first set, 14—12. But she stepped up her game, winning the
next two sets 11—8, 11—5.
However, 28th—ranked Fukuoka, did not give up her fight. She
came back to take the next three sets — 11—9, 11—6, 14—12 — for a
4—2 overall win.
It was a better outing for another Singaporean, Feng Tianwei,
who beat Viktoria Pavlovic from Belarus.
Feng, ranked 9th in the world, was stretched throughout the
seven sets — eventually winning 4—3.
In an all—Singaporean affair, Wang Yue Gu lost out to her lower
ranked team—mate Yu Meng Yu, by 4 sets to 1.
Singapore’s men, too, did not fare well, despite the homeground
advantage.
Goa Ning crashed out 4—3 to Hong Kong’s Jiang Tianyi, while
compatriot Ma Liang suffered a similar fate, losing 2—4 to
Kalinikos Kreanga of Greece. — CNA/so