Singapore teenager, Janelle Chiang, 14, fell narrowly short of a place in the final of the U17 Girls Singles event at the WTT Youth Contender Darwin 2024.

Up against an older opponent in Australia’s Nguyen Le, 16, the Singaporean could not manage to seal victory in the semifinal after coming back from 1-4 down in the deciding set to lead 10-9. Nguyen eventually prevailed 14-12, to take the 3-2 victory.

Chiang found herself trailing after the first set, having lost 7-11, but then put herself into a winning position after taking the next two sets, 11-4, 11-8. However, Nguyen did not succumb to defeat, taking the penultimate set 13-11, before clinching victory.

Nevertheless, Chiang should be delighted with her 3rd place finish, and will look for further success tomorrow in the U19 Girls Singles event.