National women paddlers dump Wales to set up title rematch with Singapore

BIRMINGHAM: The national women table tennis team produced a spirited performance in the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games to beat Wales 3-2 in a pulsating semi-final yesterday and set up a grudge rematch with Singapore in the final.

The last time the Malaysian women made the final was in 2014 in Glasgow, Scotland, where they lost 3-0 to Singapore.

However, coach Beh Lee Wei's side can expect another torrid time against Singapore, who put on a sublime show to dispose of Australia 3-0 in the other semi-final.

In the match against Wales at the National Exhibition Centre today, Malaysia's Ho Ying-Karen Lyne, who won bronze in the 2018 edition in Gold Coast, Australia, gave the team a headstart with a convincing 11-7, 11-5, 11-5 win over Chloe Thomas Wu Zhang-Anna Hursey.

The Welsh team managed to restore parity when Charlotte Carey scored a hard-fought point by outlasting Alice Chang 7-11, 11-8, 11-7, 7-11, 11-7.

Wales then pulled ahead when Hursey overcame Karen 11-6, 11-9, 11-13, 11-9 but Chang made amends for losing to Carey by defeating Wu Zhang 11-3, 13-11, 11-5.

With the score tied at 2-2, it was all up to Ho Ying to clinch the winning point and that's exactly what she did as she beat Carey 7-11, 11-9, 10-12, 11-7, 11-8 in a riveting five-set thriller.

-- BERNAMA