Singaporean Table-Tennis Partners Yang Zi & Wang Yuegu Add to Commonwealth Gold Medal Haul
In the table-tennis events of the Commonwealth games, the title of mixed doubles has been captured by Yang Zi and Wang Yuegu. The order of merit was upset by no. 2 seeds Yang Zi and Wang Yuegu, who beat their Singaporean compatriots Gao Ning and Feng Tianwei, the no. 1 seeds. The match was played in New Delhi on Tuesday 12th October, 2010.
The left-hander in the form of Yang Zi combined with the right-hander Wang Yuegu was simply irrepressible and unbeatable throughout the match. At the final hurdle, both the partners were exceptionally good at their game. They overcame and established their authority over the match from the very first point. They have made their status as the best Mixed Doubles partners and have shown a partnership of the highest quality.
They also won the Mixed Doubles title in the Commonwealth games in 2007 in the city of Jaipur, India and then two years later also in Glasgow, Scotland. Moreover, for Yang Zi it was the second crown of Mixed Doubles at the Commonwealth Championships as he won the title before with Zhang Xueling as his partner.
Singapore got the Gold and Silver but for England it was Bronze. The partnership of Paul Drinkhall and Joanna Parker was successful in overcoming the Australian duo of William Henzell and Maio Maio in the third place contest. It was, in fact, a contest where one point decided the outcome of the match. The result was unpredictable till the end of the match.
The English pair won the first game and the Australians reacted by winning the second one. The Australian response was good but it did not discourage the English pair. The third game was vital in deciding the champions. In the third game, the Australian pair established a 10-8 lead. The first game point was saved and the next was crucial. Here, the match reached the turning point, the watershed. The Australians never got another opportunity and the English pair saved the game point. Paul Drinkhall and Joanna Parker held the game point at 11-10 and at the second attempt converted it to win the game by 13-11.
Self confidence grows by winning a close game and losing the game drains away the self belief, and that was exactly the situation there. The confidence of Paul Drinkhall and Jonna Parker was appreciable. On every point won in the fourth game, Paul Drinkhall reacted with a cry of joy and extreme happiness that could have been heard throughout India or in his native Loftus on the north east coast of England which made their self confidence enormous.
Self belief reached its apex in the English camp as Miao Miao made a row of mistakes and foolish errors as she saw her dream of glory turn swiftly into a nightmare. Every single moment of the match was worth watching. It was a splendid achievement for England and a sad end for Australia.
In a table-tennis competition that has seen Asian female players normally dominate, it was very good to see Joanna Parker smiling excitedly as she stood beside Paul Drinkhall at the medal ceremony.
The English pair showed a fine performance and played well throughout the match but Singapore stood supreme when it came to excellence and perfect partnership. The best pair of left-hander Yang Zi and right-hander Wang Yuegu gave an outstanding performance in the tournament, thus winning the Mixed Doubles Champions title.
Tags: