Veteran paddler Feng Tianwei wants to 'focus on the journey'

SINGAPORE — The Republic’s women’s table tennis team heads into the Rio Olympic Games to defend their two bronze medals from the 2012 London Olympic Games, but a smaller and less experienced squad will see the Singapore Table Tennis Association (STTA) looking to veteran Feng Tianwei to deliver at least a medal in the singles in Rio.

Table tennis chief Ellen Lee was careful not to pile pressure on the trio of world No 4 Feng, and debutants Yu Mengyu (No 15) and Zhou Yihan (No 34). Feng is the only member remaining from the 2008 and 2012 women’s teams that won silver and bronze, respectively, before the retirements of stalwarts Li Jiawei and Wang Yuegu.

The Singapore men did not make the cut for the team event, with Gao Ning and Chen Feng to compete in the singles in Rio.

While the STTA are optimistic about their chances, Lee sounded a word of caution on Monday (July 18) at the press conference: “If we could retain two bronze from 2012 that would be very good but I think the make-up of this team is different.

“If we could get at least one medal that would be very good ... I don’t think it’s a step down because the only veteran for this team is Tianwei for the women’s team and Gao Ning for men’s team. To say they must achieve at least two golds or achieve a step up from last two medals they won would be putting undue pressure on them.”

Added women’s team head coach Chen Zhibin: “Based on Tianwei’s condition now, we should have a better chance in the women’s singles. If Tianwei wins, the probablity of another medal is higher as the they will be more relaxed and there is less pressure on the younger players.”

Veteran paddler Feng has struggled with knee and shoulder injuries in recent years, and the introduction of a new ball in 2014 — which is wider and made of a different material — has also seen the 29-year-old experiencing a dip in form.

Ahead of the World Team Table Tennis Championships (WTTTC) in Malaysia in March, the women’s team were hit by a last-minute change in coaches triggered by a spat between Yu and then-head coach Jing Junhong. With foreign-born Zhou and Lin Ye unable to compete due to the ITTF’s eligibility rules, the women’s team returned home empty-handed.

But Feng has bounced back since, winning last month’s Slovenia Open to end a two-year drought on the professional circuit. She is seeded second for the Olympics’ women’s singles just behind 2012 Olympic silver medallist Ding Ning, which will ensure that she avoids meeting the Chinese rivals until the semi-finals.

The women’s team are ranked fourth for the Olympics, which will also see them avoiding top ranked sides China, Japan and Germany until the later stages.

While Feng has been tasked to lead the team to glory in Rio, she is also determined to enjoy her third outing at the Games.

“This is a new challenge for me ... I hope the few of us can be united as a team, focus on the journey and do our best there,” she said on Monday.

“This coach has brought new thinking and new things to the team. Our time working together has not been long — athletes and coaches need one to two years to get to know each other better. We are trying hard to shorten that time and adapt to one another, and we hope we can work together well during the Games.

“At the 2008 Olympics, I was young and ignorant and didn’t know what it meant to be afraid. In 2012, I experienced challenges and it was a tough journey. So for the third one, I really hope to enjoy it.”

Olympic debutant Zhou has also been hard at work fine-tuning her doubles partnership with Yu for the team event. Ahead of the Rio Olympics, the national paddlers were based in South Korea and Taiwan for centralised training camps, and they will travel to New Jersey, this week for training and acclimatisation.

“I have a lot of confidence in myself and the team, especially in doubles as we have been training hard,” said Zhou, 22.

“Taking part in the Olympics has been a dream of mine since I was young, and I am really looking forward to it. I’m so excited that I can’t sleep at night!”