Feng Tianwei beats Thai foe for much-needed SEA Games psychological boost

SINGAPORE – It is a defeat that still rankles for Singapore’s top woman paddler Feng Tianwei as her 3-1 loss to Thai ace Suthasini Sawettabut during the group stages took her out of the medal running at the last South-east Asian Games at home, and ended the Republic’s hopes of a clean sweep of all seven gold medals on offer for table tennis.

Two years on, and less than three weeks out from the opportunity for redemption in Kuala Lumpur, Feng has struck a psychological blow against her Thai opponent with a commanding 5-0 victory on Thursday (Aug 3) at the T2 Asia Pacific Table Tennis League (T2APAC).

Playing for Team Maze, led by former Danish professional Michael Maze, Feng finally came up against Team Persson’s Suthasini in Round 3 of the made-for-television competition and was in no mood for charity.

Looking a lot sharper than in previous rounds, the 30-year-old took a 9-3 lead in the opening set and duly completed an 11-4 win.

She took game two in much the same fashion, not letting her 23-year-old Thai opponent settle as she went 9-5 ahead before winning 11-6.

But it was how Feng played the next two sets that would please her the most as she fought back from 0-5 in the third set to win 11-6, and crucially from 4-9 behind in the fourth to win 11-10.

Feng completed the rout by winning a fifth Kill Zone set – one of the unique features of T2APAC where deuce are also not played – by the score of 5-1.

Having failed to win her first five matches in T2APAC, which included losses to unheralded Romanian players Bernadette Szocs and Elizabeta Samara, Feng has regained form by winning her previous two outings before facing Suthasini.

“I was fatigued coming into the first two rounds of T2APAC, having been competing in tournaments before that, and the 24-minute format for this league also took some time to get used to,” said the world No 6.

When asked if she was motivated by her 2015 SEA Games loss to Suthasini, who went on to capture the women’s singles gold medal, Feng said: “Yes, of course. I knew she would not be an easy opponent, and she will again be my main opponent in these coming Games.

“So I was very focused on this match. Even when I was behind on those two occasions, I made some tactical changes and tried a couple of new things and managed to turn things around, so that was a real boost.”

Penciled down for the singles, doubles (partnering Yu Mengyu) and team competitions, Feng declared she is targeting the gold medal for all three events.

And she looks to have put her troubles with the Singapore Table Tennis Association behind her as she also confirmed that she will continue to train with the rest of the Singapore team ahead of her Kuala Lumpur outing.

As for Suthasini, there is little doubt that Feng is the big obstacle in her way to defending the SEA Games gold.

“She played so much better today than when we met at the 2015 SEA Games,” she said. “I didn’t stay focused when I was leading, and couldn’t keep my eye on the ball.

“But playing in T2APAC has helped me with my game, and I will also be joining the rest of my Thailand team-mates later this week in China where we are preparing for the SEA Games.”