On a seven-gold mission

SINGAPORE — There is no doubt that the Republic’s paddlers are kingpins of the sport in South-east Asia, with a formidable record that has seen the men’s and women’s teams winning 32 out of 34 gold medals — including clean sweeps at the 2011 and 2013 Games — at the SEA Games over the past decade.

The pressure is on the Singaporeans to deliver all seven gold medals on offer at the June 5 to 16 Games, but Singapore Table Tennis Association (STTA) deputy president Alex Yam is careful not to burden the athletes with unnecessary stress.

While Yam was coy on team targets at a pre-Games press conference at the STTA’s Toa Payoh headquarters yesterday, he said: “They have been training very hard and we are leaving nothing to chance.

“Our hope is that they do their best to win seven medals and to obtain gold in all our events. If they can achieve that, it will be a wonderful gift to our nation.”

Table tennis will also shoulder the responsibility of delivering Singapore’s first gold medal at the Games, with the women’s and men’s doubles final scheduled for June 2, three days before the opening ceremony at the National Stadium.

Local-born paddler Clarence Chew is relishing the opportunity to perform in front of a home crowd at the 10,000-seater Singapore Indoor Stadium. The 19-year-old has been handed a heavier workload by coach Yang Chuan Ning this time, and he will feature in the men’s singles, men’s doubles and men’s team.

“Clarence will play in the No 2 position this time ... It will be good training for him, but also a bit of a burden and pressure, as he has to play well,” said Yang.

“Thailand and Vietnam will be our main threats. The Vietnamese often train in China, while Thailand has been putting a lot of focus on the sport in the past few years. We are more focused in our training now and placing a lot of emphasis on the men’s and women’s doubles and mixed doubles. If we play the first two doubles well, it will be a boost for the other events.”

With senior players Gao Ning, Yang Zi and Zhan Jian advancing into their 30s, the men’s team are looking to young paddlers such as Chew to step up, and he said yesterday: “Playing three events is definitely a step up and this will give me more confidence. They (the seniors) are have a lot of experience and training with them has helped me improve my standard of play. I hope to be able to catch up and improve as quickly as possible.”

World No 4 Feng Tianwei will make a return to the SEA Games after missing out on the 2013 edition, as the STTA had decided to blood its younger paddlers. The 28-year-old, who is recovering from a recurring knee injury, is wary of the threat from the Thai women’s team trio of Nanthana Komwong (world No 111), Suthasini Sawettabut (113) and Tamolwan Khetkhuan (121).

The Singapore women’s team may be ranked 16 spots above the world No 19 Thai team, but Feng is not taking anything for granted.

“They have played at Asian Games and other international competitions and their results are not bad. I can see that they are improving and they will be our biggest threat,” she said.

The 10-strong squad are currently in centralised training at Toa Payoh and the STTA has roped in sparring partners from the Taiwanese national team and South Korea, in particular left-handed paddlers, as several of the Thai and Vietnamese players are south paws.

Women’s team head coach Jing Junhong is also keen to test the mettle of younger athletes such as Isabelle Li, Lin Ye and Zhou Yihan, as she added: “We have the Olympics next year, and this is a big-scale competition for them and we will see how they cope with the pressure.”