Olympics: S’pore women paddlers book quarter—final spots

LONDON: Singapore’s women paddlers Feng Tianwei and Wang Yuegu both advanced to the women’s singles table tennis event at the London Olympics on Monday.

Feng notched a 4—2 (11—6, 7—11, 11—5, 9—11, 11—6, 11—6) win over Wu Jiaduo of Germany on Monday to earn a spot in the quarter—finals.

She will face South Korean third seed Kim Kyung Ah in the next round at 5pm Singapore time Tuesday.

The 35—year—old South Korean advanced to the top eight after a 4—1 victory over Spain’s Shen Yanfei in Monday’s round of 16.

In the later match, Wang came from two sets down to earn a hard—fought victory over Belarus’ Viktoria Pavlovich in a seven—game thriller.

Wang found herself trailing 1—3 before storming back to win three consecutive games to beat the plucky Belarusian 4—3 (11—8, 7—11, 4—11, 12—14, 11—7, 11—9, 11—8).

Wang will face Japan’s Kasumi Ishikawa in the quarter—final at 6pm Singapore time Tuesday.

The Japanese defeated Poland’s Li Qian 4—1 in the fourth round on Monday.

Meanwhile, Gao Ning, who is the republic’s sole representative in the men’s singles table tennis event, crashed out in the fourth round after losing 1—4 (9—11, 7—11, 9—11, 11—7, 3—11) to China’s Wang Hao.

— CNA/fa