After clinching gold at the women's table tennis singles during the Southeast Asian Games in May 2023, Singaporean athlete Zeng Jian once again put Singapore on the world map by winning the World Table Tennis (WTT) Feeder Doha II women's singles title on Oct. 19, 2023.
This is the 26-year-old's first WWT title.
Zeng currently ranked 64 in the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) World Ranking.
This victory will boost her hopes to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics, according to The Straits Times.
Zeng's road to victory
In the final game, Zeng won all three rounds against Welsh athlete Anna Hursey, currently ranked 163 in the ITTF World Ranking.
For each round, she scored 11-6, 11-5, and 11-5, respectively.
Before reaching the finals, Zeng defeated South Korea's Choi Seo-yeon (ranked #697), China's Gao Yuxin (ranked #386), Italy's Giorgia Piccolin (ranked #106), and Chinese Taipei's Huang Yi-hua (ranked #74).
Zeng 'didn't expect' to win the tournament
Looking back at the three-day tournament, Zeng said she didn't expect to win the title because she has been competing "quite a bit," and she could feel "the fatigue setting in," reported ST.
"[The game] was tough, but coming back to beat the young Chinese player was a big boost, and I was more composed after that," she added.
Zeng also thanked her coaches and the Singapore Table Tennis Association for their support.
The national women's head coach, Jing Junhong, also said the team is happy for Zeng to "record this achievement and breakthrough after a long period of hard work."
Jing shared that the current season is still not over, with tour events and club competitions in Slovenia, China, and France coming up:
"The hectic schedule is similar for players who are chasing Olympics spots, and we will try to manage this as best as we can."
https://mothership.sg/2023/10/zeng-jian-world-table-tennis-title/
