Commonwealth Games: Veteran paddler Feng reclaims singles title in comeback win

DESPITE having to cope with wrist, shoulder and knee injuries, Feng Tianwei fought on and was rewarded with a return to the top of the Commonwealth Games table tennis women’s singles podium on Sunday (Aug 7).

In an all-Singaporean final, the 35-year-old came back from 3 games down to beat 25-year-old Zeng Jian 4-3 (6-11, 5-11, 8-11, 11-4, 11-6, 11-8, 11-5) to recapture the crown she won in 2010 and 2014.

Both players had pulled off stirring comeback wins in their respective semi-finals on Saturday to guarantee a 1-2 finish for Singapore. In the quarter-finals, world No 60 Zeng had also swept India’s defending champion Manika Batra.

On Sunday, both attacking players pulled off several world-class rallies with high-quality strokes, but world No 16 Feng used all of her experience to turn a huge deficit into victory.

These are the Republic’s third and fourth medals from table tennis at these Games, after the women’s team won gold on Aug 1 and the men’s team picked up a silver the following day.

Feng and Zeng will return to Show Court 1 as a women’s doubles pair later on Sunday when they will meet Wales’ Charlotte Carey and Anna Hursey in their semi-final.

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Aiming to make it another all-Singaporean affair for the event are Wong Xin Ru and Zhou Jingyi who take on Australia’s Lay Jian Fang and Jee Min-hyung in the other semi-final.

Meanwhile, Zeng is also involved in the mixed doubles bronze-medal match with Clarence Chew, as they face Aussies Nicholas Lum and Jee. Chew will also be teaming up with Ethan Poh to fight for a men’s doubles bronze against Australia’s Finn Luu and Lum. THE STRAITS TIMES