The Singapore men’s table tennis team, missing Izaac Quek, Koen Pang and Clarence Chew, finished a commendable third place in the Men’s Team event at the Southeast Asian Championships 2024 at Nonthaburi, Thailand.

The young team of Josh Chua (23), Nicholas Tan (17), Yang Ze Yi (17), Jaryl Wong (16) and Ellsworth Le (15), lost 3-1 to hosts Thailand in the semifinals on Tuesday evening, but the team had already exceeded expectations by finishing second in their group behind Malaysia, which also included Vietnam, Laos and Brunei.

Having began the group stage with back to back 3-0 victories over Brunei and Laos, the Singaporeans lost to the more experienced Malaysians who had Javen Choong and Wong Qi Shen in their line up, going down to their Causeway rivals by a score of 1-3.

Needing to beat Vietnam to qualify for the semifinals and be assured of at least a bronze medal, the young Singapore team rose to the challenge.

Nicholas stunned former SEA Games singles champion Nguyen Duc Tuan, winning by a score 3-2 (8-11, 11-9, 4-11, 12-10, 11-9) to give Singapore the 1-0 lead, before captain Josh Chua extended the Republic’s lead when he came from behind to beat Dinh Anh Hoang, also by a score of 3-2 (6-11, 9-11, 11-5, 11-8, 13-11).

Vietnam cut the deficit to 2-1 when Doan Ba Tuan Anh comfortable beat Ellsworth in a straight sets win (11-4, 11-4, 11-3). Going into the reverse singles, it was Chua against Nguyen and despite winning the first set 16-14, the Singaporean lost next two sets 7-11, 1-11. Nguyen sensed blood and went for the kill, but Chua managed to level the game at 2-2 by taking the penultimate set 12-10. The Singaporean then held on in the final set to win 13-11 to give the young Singapore team a famous win.

Hosts and defending champions Thailand proved too strong for Singapore in the semifinals, as Napat Thanmathikon beat Tan 3-0 to give them the lead, before Chua came away with victory over Phatpoom Sanguansin to level the tie at 1-1. However, Sitisak Nuchchart and Napat put paid to Singapore’s hopes of reaching the final with back to back 3-0 wins over Wong and Chua.