In a must win match for the Singapore women’s team, Jing Junhong’s charges delivered when it mattered the most as they rallied from a match down to defeat Canada 3-1 at the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships on Monday afternoon.
Following back-to-back losses against Sweden and Romania, Singapore knew that they had to dig deep if they were to stay in the competition and against Canada, 26th in the world, this was the perfect opportunity to do so.
Zhou Jingyi faced off against Canada’s top-ranked player, Zhang Mo, in the opening match and delivered a spirited performance, ultimately falling in five games with scores of 3-11, 11-9, 11-7, 8-11, 5-11, allowing the North American team to seize an early advantage.
Zeng Jian, the defending SEA Games gold medalist, levelled the scores for Singapore, when she effortlessly outplayed 16-year-old, Jessie Xu in straight sets, 11-3, 11-2, 11-3.
Next up, Wong Xin Ru went head-to-head with Ivy Liao in a matchup between 22-year-olds. Despite dropping the first game, the Singaporean kept her composure and secured victory by winning three consecutive games, with scores of 8-11, 14-12, 11-3, 12-10, giving Singapore a 2-1 lead.
Zeng was then tasked with delivering the knockout punch, and she did it in style, defeating Zhang in straight sets with scores of 11-8, 11-9, 11-4, securing the victory for the Republic.
