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Coffeeshop Chit Chat - PRC Team 2 off to Commenwealth games!</TD><TD id=msgunetc noWrap align=right> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=msgtable cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="96%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=msg vAlign=top><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgbfr1 width="1%"> </TD><TD><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead vAlign=top><TD class=msgF width="1%" noWrap align=right>From: </TD><TD class=msgFname width="68%" noWrap>kojakbt_89 <NOBR></NOBR> </TD><TD class=msgDate width="30%" noWrap align=right>2:48 am </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT height=20 width="1%" noWrap align=right>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname width="68%" noWrap>ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right> (1 of 10) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft rowSpan=4 width="1%"> </TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>39375.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt>Sep 28, 2010
Commonwealth Games
In for big haul again
Paddlers are aiming for golds in all 3 women's events, mixed doubles
<!-- by line -->By Jonathan Wong
http://www.straitstimes.com/Sports/Story/STIStory_583843.html
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With Singapore Table Tennis Association president Lee Bee Wah (fourth from right) are Commonwealth Games-bound paddlers (back row, from left) Cai Xiaoli, Yang Zi and Gao Ning; (front row, from left) Pang Xue Jie, Ma Liang, Wang Yuegu, Feng Tianwei, Yu Mengyu and Sun Beibei. The table tennis teams are expected to bring back the bulk of the gold medals for Team Singapore, who won 18 medals, including five golds, in Melbourne four years ago. -- ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM
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THE Commonwealth Games may have been once labelled the 'Friendly Games' but Singapore paddler and world No. 2 Feng Tianwei is all business when it comes to the matter of gold medals.
Even a world team championship title - the crowning achievement so far in the 24-year-old's fledgling career - is not about to slow her down.
The Delhi Games will be Feng's debut in the quadrennial event. She is one of four women players at their first Games (veteran paddler Li Jiawei is at her third Games) - and she will spearhead a vastly different team from the previous Games in Melbourne, where the Republic's women's team won all three golds, as well as the mixed doubles.
There may be new faces but, for Feng, the same goals as their predecessors remain. Not surprisingly, she is aiming for a repeat of Singapore's strong showing four years ago and return home victorious in the women's singles, doubles, mixed doubles and team categories.
'That will be our target again,' said the country's reigning Sportswoman of the Year, who will start as favourite to add the Commonwealth Games women's singles crown to the South-east Asia (SEA) Games title she claimed in Laos last year.
With Asian powerhouses such as China, South Korea and Japan not part of the Commonwealth, all the attention and scrutiny will be on Singapore's women paddlers - team silver medallists at the Beijing Olympics.
Complacency will be the last thing on Feng's mind before she steps into the Yamuna Sports Complex in the Indian capital.
'It may be a different competition but we must still have the same attitude of working hard,' she said.
Pressure is nothing new to Feng, who added: 'It's always there, you just have to deal with it.'
She should know better. Last week, despite being the top seed at the World Cup in Kuala Lumpur, she suffered a surprising early exit after losing to lower-ranked opponents.
So far, it has been a packed schedule for Feng. She and compatriot Wang Yuegu flew from Malaysia to Dubai on Sunday to join the women's squad for the US$289,000 (S$384,000) World Team Cup Classic from today to Friday.
But fatigue will not be a problem when they arrive in India, said Jing Junhong, the women's team's deputy head coach.
'These are part of their commitments as professional players. They will be ready for India,' she maintained.
Though much of the expectations will be shouldered by the women's team, the men will also be boosted by the debut of top-ranked Singaporean Gao Ning.
Men's team head coach Yang Chuanning said last week that Gao's presence gave his side 'a much bigger chance'.
The world No. 17 and reigning SEA Games singles champion will face stiff competition from defending champion, Indian Achanta Sharath Kamal, in his bid to become the first local male paddler to take home the gold medal at the Games.
But for the women's favourite, gold is not the only thing on her mind.
Feng said: 'A lot of the athletes will be from countries that speak English. It'll be a good opportunity for me to practise.'
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Commonwealth Games
In for big haul again
Paddlers are aiming for golds in all 3 women's events, mixed doubles
<!-- by line -->By Jonathan Wong
http://www.straitstimes.com/Sports/Story/STIStory_583843.html
<!-- end by line -->
<!-- end left side bar -->
<!-- story content : start -->
THE Commonwealth Games may have been once labelled the 'Friendly Games' but Singapore paddler and world No. 2 Feng Tianwei is all business when it comes to the matter of gold medals.
Even a world team championship title - the crowning achievement so far in the 24-year-old's fledgling career - is not about to slow her down.
The Delhi Games will be Feng's debut in the quadrennial event. She is one of four women players at their first Games (veteran paddler Li Jiawei is at her third Games) - and she will spearhead a vastly different team from the previous Games in Melbourne, where the Republic's women's team won all three golds, as well as the mixed doubles.
There may be new faces but, for Feng, the same goals as their predecessors remain. Not surprisingly, she is aiming for a repeat of Singapore's strong showing four years ago and return home victorious in the women's singles, doubles, mixed doubles and team categories.
'That will be our target again,' said the country's reigning Sportswoman of the Year, who will start as favourite to add the Commonwealth Games women's singles crown to the South-east Asia (SEA) Games title she claimed in Laos last year.
With Asian powerhouses such as China, South Korea and Japan not part of the Commonwealth, all the attention and scrutiny will be on Singapore's women paddlers - team silver medallists at the Beijing Olympics.
Complacency will be the last thing on Feng's mind before she steps into the Yamuna Sports Complex in the Indian capital.
'It may be a different competition but we must still have the same attitude of working hard,' she said.
Pressure is nothing new to Feng, who added: 'It's always there, you just have to deal with it.'
She should know better. Last week, despite being the top seed at the World Cup in Kuala Lumpur, she suffered a surprising early exit after losing to lower-ranked opponents.
So far, it has been a packed schedule for Feng. She and compatriot Wang Yuegu flew from Malaysia to Dubai on Sunday to join the women's squad for the US$289,000 (S$384,000) World Team Cup Classic from today to Friday.
But fatigue will not be a problem when they arrive in India, said Jing Junhong, the women's team's deputy head coach.
'These are part of their commitments as professional players. They will be ready for India,' she maintained.
Though much of the expectations will be shouldered by the women's team, the men will also be boosted by the debut of top-ranked Singaporean Gao Ning.
Men's team head coach Yang Chuanning said last week that Gao's presence gave his side 'a much bigger chance'.
The world No. 17 and reigning SEA Games singles champion will face stiff competition from defending champion, Indian Achanta Sharath Kamal, in his bid to become the first local male paddler to take home the gold medal at the Games.
But for the women's favourite, gold is not the only thing on her mind.
Feng said: 'A lot of the athletes will be from countries that speak English. It'll be a good opportunity for me to practise.'
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