Singapore’s female table tennis team has traditionally been strong, with their highest achievement being a silver at the 2008 Olympics.
Now, Singapore has another rising star in Zeng Jian, who just won her first World Table Tennis (WTT) singles title.
Source: Singapore Table Tennis Association on Facebook
This brings her one step closer to qualifying for the Paris Olympics and hopefully bringing back another Olympic medal for Singapore.
In a Facebook post on Friday (20 Oct), Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Ong said Zeng was taking part in the WTT Feeder Doha II tournament this week.
The three-day tournament at the Aspire Ladies Sports Hall in Qatar culminated in the women’s singles final on 19 Oct, where she faced off against Wales’ Anna Hursey.
Source: World Table Tennis on YouTube
Zeng emerged the winner after defeating Hursey in three straight sets of 11-6, 11-5, 11-5.
The 26-year-old had a dominant road to the final.
Besides the Welsh, she also defeated South Korea’s Choi Seo-yeon, China’s Gao Yuxin, Italy’s Giorgia Piccolin and Chinese Taipei’s Huang Yi-hua.
Source: Singapore Table Tennis Association on Facebook
This is her first-ever WTT title.
While Zeng’s win nets her just US$550 (S$750) in prize money, arguably more important is the ranking points she gets.
Right now, she’s No. 64 in the world, according to World Table Tennis.
Source: World Table Tennis
If she breaks into the top 50, however, it will help her qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Zeng is having a remarkable 2023, Mr Tong said.
Before this win, she won gold at the SEA Games in May for the women’s singles event.
At the 2022 Commonwealth Games, she was also part of the team that won Singapore’s first gold at the Games.
Along with Zhou Jingyi and Feng Tianwei, she beat Malaysia 3-0 in the final.
Congrats to Zeng, and Singaporeans certainly can’t wait to see what’s in store for her.
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Featured image adapted from Singapore Table Tennis Association on Facebook and World Table Tennis on YouTube.
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