Team Singapore heads to the 29th SEA Games this month with a roster of established athletes, as well as several youngsters who will be looking to make a name for themselves in Kuala Lumpur. TODAY is counting down to the event by profiling some of our stars of the future. Here we focus on table tennis player Ethan Poh.

SINGAPORE — As a young boy, Ethan Poh remembers standing wide-eyed and mouth agape during the national team’s training sessions at the Singapore Table Tennis Association (STTA) headquarters in Toa Payoh, his attention fixed on senior paddlers such as Gao Ning, Yang Zi and Sun Bei Bei.

Just four then, Poh stood only slightly taller than the table tennis table, but he already knew he wanted to be just like them.

“When I was very young, I found my parents’ old table tennis bats in the storeroom,” the now-18-year-old told TODAY. “They used to play at school level. The bats were dusty and the rubber had melted, but I played with them with my grandma.”

His keen interest in the sport led his father to enrol him in the zonal training programme at Toa Payoh, which was where he first met Singapore’s senior paddlers.

He added: “I was in the same training hall as them. So during the breaks I would watch them train and I just stood there with my mouth open (in amazement). I wanted to be like them.”

An early stint in the national youth development squad (nine to 11 years old) when he was seven motivated him to train even harder.

“It was scary because everyone was two heads taller than me,” he recalled. “They were playing at a higher level and that made me want to train harder.”

His diligence eventually paid off as he went on to the Singapore Sports School, and his childhood ambition was fulfilled this year when he earned a call-up to the SEA Games squad. The Ngee Ann Polytechnic business management student is pencilled in for two events: The men’s team, and doubles with partner Clarence Chew.

Only Gao and Chew remain from the 2015 gold-medal-winning team after the retirements of Chen Feng and Yang Zi, and the sacking of former world junior champion Li Hu last year due to disciplinary issues.

Pang Xuejie rejoined the team after quitting university in February to play professionally.

Poh is one of two debutants in the 10-member national team in Malaysia, along with 18-year-old Lucas Tan, who will play in the men’s team event.

Despite the changes to the roster, men’s team head coach Liu Jiayi said in an earlier interview: “Training has been better than ever, and the younger team members have also been working hard ... I hope they can achieve results in the absence of their elder team-mates.”

Two years ago, Poh watched the SEA Games table tennis action from courtside as a volunteer — he was in charge of the electronic scoreboards at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. He will be in the fray this time, as the national men’s and women’s team gun for a clean sweep of all seven gold medals (men’s and women’s team, men’s and women’s singles, men’s and women’s doubles and mixed doubles) on offer in Kuala Lumpur.

He said: “I’m really excited because I wanted to take part in the SEA Games since last year, and do well for the country. I hope to help contribute to the team, and get a gold for the team and qualify for the final of the men’s doubles.”

Currently ranked 50th in the world in the boys’ under-18, and 135th in the Under-21 rankings, Poh knows he will face some strong opposition at Kuala Lumpur’s MiTEC Hall 7 this month. The teenager, who won two gold, a silver and a bronze at the South-east Asian Junior and Cadet Table Tennis Championships in Singapore in June, will be taking a leaf from his table tennis idols, China’s world No 5 Zhang Jike and Kenta Matsudaira of Japan (16). His doubles partner Chew is also a source of inspiration and support.

He added: “I like Zhang Jike for his attitude on court as he shows no fear. I try to be as confident as him in every match that I play.

“I’ve kind of taken the same path as Clarence, going to Sports School, and I look up to him as a role model.”

Outside of the table tennis hall, Poh enjoys going for steamboat dinners with Chew and his team-mates. The avid football and basketball fan also makes time to keep up to date with the results of his favourite teams, Chelsea and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

He may be touted as a rising star of Singapore table tennis, but the affable, chatty teenager insisted that he is far from the finished product.

Blushing at a coach’s teasing comments that he is a ladies’ man, he added: “I don’t think of myself as a bright talent. I’m just a normal guy who studies and goes to training.

“This SEA Games is definitely a small milestone for me, and hopefully the start of more major competitions to come. A medal at the 2024 Olympics is my dream, and hopefully I can make it to Tokyo 2020.”

OTHER PADDLERS TO WATCH OUT FOR:

Feng Tianwei (Singapore): The world No 6 paddler, who has won three Olympic medals, will be the one to beat in Kuala Lumpur. The 30-year-old is aiming for a sweep of all of her three events (women’s team, singles, doubles), particularly the singles after an unexpected loss to Thailand’s Suthasini Sawettabut in 2015.

Lin Ye and Zhou Yihan (Singapore): The younger pair will be defending their women’s doubles gold after upsetting their older and more experienced compatriots Feng and Yu Mengyu to claim gold two years ago. A year later, they defeated China’s Ding Ning and Liu Shiwen in the semi-finals of the Japan Open.

Suthasini Sawettabut (Thailand): After winning a surprise singles gold in 2015, the 23-year-old will have to fend off Singaporeans Feng and Yu this time. Ranked 57th in the world, Suthasini delivered another shock victory at April’s Asian Championships, beating world No 31 Doo Hoi Kem of Hong Kong to advance to the womens’ singles round of 16.