Table Tennis: Silver for Singapore women's team at Asian Championships
By Patwant Singh/Low Lin Fhoong, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 19 November 2009 2358 hrs

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SINGAPORE: Singapore's women paddlers settled for silver in the Asian Championships in Lucknow, India after losing 1-3 to favourites and defending champions China in the team final on Thursday.

Despite the absence of world No.1 and 2, Zhang Yining and Guo Yue respectively, Singapore's trio of Feng Tianwei, Wang Yuegu and Sun Beibei found the going tough against the Chinese giants.

World No.5 Feng struggled against her lower-ranked opponent, Fan Ying, bowing out 8-11, 4-11, 10-12 in the first singles match-up.

This was followed by teammate Wang's 1-3 (11-6, 9-11, 6-11, 2-11) loss to Ding Ning.

Sun, who is ranked 22nd in the world, clawed her way back for Singapore after posting an 11-5, 6-11, 11-8, 11-8 upset win over Li Xiaoxia.

But it was a case of too little, too late, as Ding Ning claimed the gold medal for China with an 11-8, 11-8, 11-7 win over Feng.

Hong Kong and South Korea took home the bronze medal.

- CNA/ir