Tianwei celebrates a winning point in her singles match. She beat Kim Hyungah 3-1 (11-9, 11-8, 4-11, 13-11) to win the first point for Singapore. (Screenshot taken off the official Olympic YouTube channel)
London, Tuesday, August 7, 2012 — The Singapore trio of Wang Yuegu, Feng Tianwei and Li Jiawei beat South Korea 3-0 to win the table tennis women’s team bronze at the 2012 London Olympics.
It was Singapore’s second medal of the Games, coming after Feng Tianwei’s bronze medal win in the singles event.
The medal is also Singapore’s fourth medal ever at the Olympics. Tan Howe Liang had won a weightlifting sliver at the 1960 Rome Olympics. 48 years later, In 2008, Yuegu, Tianwei and Jiawei made it to the team final before going down to China to go home with silver.
The Singapore trio had suffered a disappointing 0-3 to Japan earlier in the semi-finals that was not as close a match as expected.
Against South Korea, Tianwei won the first point of the match when she beat Kim Hyungah 3-1 (11-9, 11-8, 4-11, 13-11).
Jiawei then beat Seok Hajung by a similar 3-1 (11-5, 11-8, 6-11, 11-8) margin to secure the second point.
Jiawei remained on court to pair up with Yuegu for the first doubles match and they beat Dang Yeseo and Seok Hajung 3-1 (11-9, 11-6, 6-11, 11-5).
The winning point for Singapore triggered celebrations among the small band of Singapore supporters in the stands. Among them were Chan Chun Sing, the sports minister, and Lee Bee Wah, the president of the Singapore Table Tennis Association. Minister Chan punched the air in jubilation and they gave each other a bear hug in celebration.
The prime minister of Singapore, Mr Lee Hsien Loong, was visiting UniSIM when he heard news of the victory.
“I learnt about the table tennis team Bronze from the [UniSIM] students. Congrats Team Singapore!” wrote Mr Lee on his Facebook page.
In the final, China defended their gold when they beat Japan 3-0. It was the first team silver for Japan.
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