Table tennis: Lin Ye and Zhou Yihan win first SEA Games gold for Singapore

SINGAPORE — Women’s doubles pair Lin Ye and Zhou Yihan have won Team Singapore’s first gold at the 28th South-east Asian (SEA) Games.

The duo defeated top seeded teammates Feng Tianwei and Yu Mengyu 4-3 in the women’s doubles final at the Singapore Indoor Stadium today (June 2) to claim the first gold at the June 5 to 16 Games.

Gao Ning and Yang Zi will contest the men’s doubles final against Thailand’s Padasak Tanviriyavechakul and Chanakarn Udomsilp later tonight in the fight for gold.

Earlier today, Lin and Zhou as well as Feng and Yu defeated their opponents in their semi-finals.

Feng and Yu defeated Malaysia’s Ho Ying and Lee Rou You 11-9, 11-7, 11-8, 11-4.

Teammates Lin and Zhou had a tougher time on court against Thailand’s Nanthana Kumwong and Suthasini Sawettabut. The second seeded pair recovered from an early scare, losing the first two games 11-7, 11-9 before bouncing back to level the score at 2-2. The see-saw battle saw the scores level again at 3-3, before the Singaporeans rallied to win the decider 11-8 to raucous cheers from the crowd.

“We feel really happy to secure both gold and silver for Singapore. The support from the fans really helped us in the crucial moments,” said Zhou after their semi-final match.