KORAT, Dec 4 (Bernama) -- Malaysia are assured of a bronze medal, at the very least, in the women's table tennis team event at the Convention Centre of the Klang Shopping Mall here today.
A 3-0 victory over Myanmar in their final group match has allowed them to finish second behind defending champion Singapore and with it a berth into the semi-finals.
The competition rules decide that there will no play-off for the bronze medal in the table tennis competition and both losing semi-finalists are assured of a bronze medal.
Malaysia will take on Thailand in the crossover semi-finals tomorrow and it is a task team manager Soong Poh Wah described as a mountain to climb.
"The Thais will start as the favourite simply because they have a better record against us and this time they will also have the crowd behind them. It will be difficult for us.
"But then again we shouldn't be worried about their reputation. We have the bronze now but we should be aiming for the silver at least and if our nerves hold, we have a chance too," said Soong.
Malaysia will look towards the Kedah pair of Beh Lee Wei and Ng Sock Khim to provide the inspiration needed to upset the Thais in front of their own crowd.
And the fact that they had beaten the Thais 3-1 the last time they met eight months ago in the Vietnam International Championship has given them hope.
The other semi-final will pit Singapore against Vietnam after the Vietnamese beat the Indonesians 3-1 in their final group match to finish runner-up.
-- BERNAMA
.gif)
No comments:
Post a Comment