The Terrific Table Tennis Trio
Izaac Quek Yong did it again! Following his victory in clinching the U15 Boys’ Singles title at the World Table Tennis (WTT) Youth Contender 2021 in Italy last month, the Secondary 3 paddler continued his winning streak to secure the U19 Boys’ Singles title and a joint 3rd in the U17 Boys’ Singles at the WTT Youth Contender 2021 held from 1 to 7 November in Hungary. Also at the same tournament, Secondary 4 paddler Zhou Jingyi shone in the U17 Girl’s Singles where she was crowned champion in the event, while Secondary 3 Ser Lin Qian took the joint-third position.
This was the trio’s last two stops of the four-stop WTT Youth Contender tournaments. The other stop, also held from 1 to 7 November, was at Slovakia where Izaac secured a joint third in the U15 Boys’ Singles, 2 silver medals by Jingyi in the U17 and 19 Girls’ Singles, and a silver by Lin Qian in the U15 Girls’ Singles event. In both tournaments, the trio captured an impressive medal count of 2 gold, 3 silver and 3 bronze.
“Generally, I am pretty satisfied with my performance as I came without any expectations of winning any competitions. It was my first tournament overseas in two years and I was just trying to gain as much experience as I could,” shared Izaac.
Jingyi was just as satisfied with her performance at both tournaments. She said: “I managed to execute the strategies planned and play to the best of my abilities. Although there are still areas that I could have done better, I am quite satisfied with my performance.”
Beyond their achievements, both of them have also brought home invaluable experiences which will help them become a better player.
“My biggest takeaway from the competitions would be knowing how players from different countries play and learning new playing styles. The way Europeans play is totally different from people in Asia, and since I was lacking in experience playing with them, I wasn’t able to perform my best initially. However, after playing with them for a while, I was able to perform better. To be a good player, you have to be able to play with any playing style you meet, and this competition gave me that opportunity,” shared a grateful Izaac who was thankful for the overseas stint that enabled him to gain the experience he needed.
For Jingyi, the tournaments had taught her more about herself in terms of her skills and mental thinking. She said: “As these were the last two competitions and we already played two before these, we were quite mentally and physically drained, so I felt that it was an accomplishment that we still managed to fight on and do well.”
The trio are currently training in Portugal before Izaac and Lin Qian compete at the World Youth Championships in December, while Jingyi is setting sight on competing at major Games happening next year.
RESULTS
World Table Tennis Youth Contender 2021 (1 – 7 November), Senec, Slovakia
U15 Boys’ Singles
Joint 3rd – Izaac Quek Yong
U15 Girls’ Singles
2nd – Ser Lin Qian
U17 Girl’s Singles
2nd – Zhou Jingyi
U19 Girls’ Singles
2nd – Zhou Jingyi
World Table Tennis Youth Contender 2021 (1 – 7 November), Szombathely, Hungary
U17 Boys’ Singles
Joint 3rd – Izaac Quek Yong
U19 Boys’ Singles
1st – Izaac Quek Yong
U17 Girl’s Singles
1st – Zhou Jingyi
Joint 3rd – Ser Lin Qian
