by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor
However, a place in the final for Feng Tianwei very nearly did not accrue; in the penultimate round when facing Thailand’s Suthasini Sawettabut she trailed 7-10 in the deciding game, saved a total of no less five match points before securing victory (11-7, 13-15, 11-1, 11-9, 6-11, 9-11, 14-12).
Success for Gao Ning and Feng Tianwei; there was also success for the duo in the respective Men’s Doubles and Women’s Doubles events.
Just as in the Men’s Singles and Women’s Singles title deciding contests; the Men’s Doubles and Women’ s Doubles finals were all-Singaporean affairs. Gao Ning and Pang Xue Jie combined to beat Clarence Chew and Ethan Poh Shao Feng; Feng Tianwei and Yu Mengyu joined forces to overcome Lin Ye and Zhou Yihan.
Noteworthy performances but there was not to be a clean sweep of titles for Singapore in the individual events. In the Mixed Doubles competition the end reward was silver; at the final hurdle Thailand’s Padasak Tanviriyavechakul and Suthasini Sawettabut overcame Pang Xue Jie and Yu Mengyu.
Pertinently, Yu Mengyu did not compete in the Women’s Singles event; last November she underwent surgery on a shoulder injury which required a four month break from play.
Roll of Honour
Men’s Singles
Gold: Gao Ning (Singapore) Silver: Clarence Chew (Singapore) Bronze: Padasak Tanviriyavechakul (Thailand) & Richard Gonzales (Philippines)
Women’s Singles
Gold: Feng Tianwei (Singapore) Silver: Zhou Yihan (Singapore) Bronze: Nanthana Komwong (Thailand) & Suthasini Sawettabut (Thailand)
Men’s Doubles
Gold: Gao Ning / Pang Xue Jie (Singapore) Silver: Clarence Chew / Ethan Pao Shao Feng (Singapore) Bronze: Ficky Supit Santoso / Bima Abi Negra (Philippines) & Padasak Tanviriyavechakul / Supanut Wisutmaythangkoon (Thailand)
Women’s Doubles
Gold: Feng Tianwei / Yu Mengyu (Singapore) Silver: Lin Ye / Zhou Yihan (Singapore) Bronze: Gustin Dwijayanti / Lilis Indriani (Indonesia) & Mai Hoang My Trang / Nguyen Thi Nga (Vietnam)
Mixed Doubles
Gold: Padasak Tanviriyavechakul / Suthasini Sawettabut (Thailand) Silver: Pang Xue Jie / Yu Mengyu (Singapore) Bronze: Clarence Chew / Zhou Yihan & Dinh Quang Linh / Mai Hoang My Trang (Vietnam)