KUALA LUMPUR: National paddler Wong Qi Shen is hoping to go one better at the 2023 SEA Games in Phnom Penh, Cambodia next month after settling for silver and bronze in the 2021 edition in Hanoi, Vietnam.
In the Hanoi edition, the 20-year-old helped the men’s team, also comprising Leong Chee Feng, Javen Choong and Danny Ng Wann Sing, reach the final for the first time since the 1993 Games in Singapore, besides clinching the men’s doubles bronze medal with Javen.
His confidence is also high after winning the Under-19 category of the World Table Tennis (WTT) Youth Contender Jezzine 2022 in Lebanon last November and advancing to the semi-finals of the WTT Feeder Antalya 2023 in Turkiye last month.
“For this year, we will fight for the team gold and doubles silver. This is my motivation for the (May 5-17) SEA Games,” he told the Malaysian Contingent media conference, here, today.
In the Hanoi SEA Games, Malaysia bagged one silver and four bronze medals to finish fourth overall.
Meanwhile, woman paddler Alice Chang Li Sian, who dispatched three higher-ranked players en route to reaching the last four in Antalya, has set her sights on making the final in the Cambodia SEA Games.
“The training sessions I underwent here and in China have been very helpful because I can fully focus on table tennis. After this, some Japanese paddlers will be here in Malaysia to spar with us. This is good because they are very skilful and mentally strong,” she said.
The national table tennis squad, who returned home with the women’s team and mixed team silver medals from the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games, had also trained with South Korean and Taiwanese paddlers here.
In a move to further strengthen the team, the national paddlers will undergo a joint training camp with Japanese players here on April 10-24.
National coach Beh Lee Wei said that the training sessions and friendly games with other paddlers were crucial for her players to come up with a variety of playing styles and learn new techniques, skills and tactics.
“By playing with foreign players, their confidence will increase, and then their game will get better. In table tennis, apart from skills, it is also crucial to be tactically astute in terms of serving and returning a serve.
“When you train with players who have differing styles, it will be easier in actual competitions. Our preparation this time is better than last year’s because we are no longer affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and can train overseas,” she said. — BERNAMA
