Singapore's women paddlers edge closer to Olympic qualification

Jan 23, 2020 06:00 am

Singapore's women paddlers reached the Round of 16 of the ITTF World Team qualification tournament in Gondomar, Portugal, yesterday after defeating Luxembourg 3-1.

The doubles pair of Lin Ye and Yu Mengyu lost the first match 3-2 (9-11, 11-6, 5-11, 11-7, 7-11) to Ni Xia Lian and Sarah de Nutte.

But Feng Tianwei and Yu clinched the following three singles matches to help the Republic progress.

Feng defeated Tessy Gonderinger 3-0 (11-9, 11-5, 11-5) in the first singles, before Yu exacted a measure of revenge for the doubles defeat by trouncing de Nutte 3-0 (11-7, 11-8, 11-4) as well in the second singles.

Feng then sealed the best-of-five tie with a 3-2 (8-11, 11-7, 11-9, 7-11, 11-4) win over Ni in the third singles.

The Republic will meet Holland in the Round of 16 today, with the winners assured of a spot at the Tokyo Olympics from July 24-Aug 8, along with the other quarter-finalists.