Youth Olympic Table Tennis: Isabelle Li stumbles while Clarence Chew beats first opponent in round of 16

Story by Noor Farhan/Red Sports. Photos by Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports

Singapore Indoor Stadium, Saturday, August 21, 2010 – Singapore paddler Isabelle Li faltered in straight sets against a technically superior Yang Ha Eun of South Korea in the second stage of the Youth Olympic’s table tennis women’s singles with a final scoreline of 8-11, 5-11, 5-11.

Her compatriot Clarence Chew fared better in the Men’s Singles, overcoming his Swedish opponent Hampus Soderlund 9-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-8. Stuttering in the first set, Clarence managed to regroup tactically to negate the Swede in the next three sets to earn the victory.

The first set did not start brightly for Isabelle, conceding first against South Korea’s Ha Eun. She managed to tie the Korean 3-3 at around two minutes and again 6-6 at three minutes, but was edged out 8-11 at the end of the first set.

Ha Eun again managed to nick the first point off her Singaporean opponent nine seconds into the start of the second set. Building an insurmountable 7-3 lead at about three minutes, she then proceded to seal the set at 11-5 to highlight the gap in standard between the two.

The 15-year-old Singaporean finally manage to draw first blood in the start of the third set. Isabelle did not manage to get into any sort of rhythm however, as Ha Eun manage to tie her 2-2 at 1:38, before powering ahead to a 5-11 victory in the final set of the match.

“She was better than me in terms of skill as she controlled the game better,” noted Isabelle, having met her opponent at a tournament in Hong Kong last year.

The men’s game was much more vibrant in comparison, even as Clarence Chew lost the first point against Sweden’s Hampus Soderlund. The Swede’s tough smashing attacking strokes saw him surge ahead 7-6 at 3:18. Initial jitters by Clarence cost him dearly when he finally lost the first set 9-11 against Soderlund.

After a tactical discussion with his coach at the start of the second set, Clarence managed to regain his bearing to take the first points off the Swede. After forging ahead 7-4 at 3 minutes, his change in playing style saw him conquer Soderlund 11-6 after 5 minutes to win the second set.

Despite gaining the first point of the third set, Sweden’s Soderlund could not mantain his momentum, causing him to concede 6-3 in favour of Clarence at 2:34. The Swede’s lack of versatility was his undoing, as Clarence capitalised to win the third set 11-9 at around seven minutes.

Clarence then applied the coup de grace on his opponent in his fourth and final set, as he emerged triumphant in a 9-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-8 victory.

“His attack was very powerful in the first set, as I was not used to it yet. In the second set onwards I managed to used more angles to defeat him,” quipped Clarence, on his change of strategy.

“Also, he could not receive my serves very well and so I decided to capitalise on that,” he recalled about his Swedish opponent.

“The win has brought me closer to the quarter-finals, but I hope to take the next two matches one game a time,” when asked about his victory.

Isabelle will face Mateja Jeger of Croatia and Ariel Hsing of the USA in tomorrow’s round of 16 matches at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. Her first game is against Ariel, at 10am.

“I havent seen them play yet but I’ll think about it tonight,” she said when asked about her strategy in tomorrow’s games.

Clarence will face Ojo Onaolapo of Nigeria as well as Austria’s Stefan Leitgeb in tomorrow’s matches in the round of 16. His first game is against Leitgeb, at 11am.

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