Feng Tianwei

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Feng Tianwei
Personal information
Full nameFeng Tianwei
Nationality Singapore
ResidenceSingapore
Height1.64 m (5 ft 5 in)[1]
Weight58 kg (128 lb) (2008)[1]
Table tennis career
Playing styleRight-handed shakehand grip[2]
Equipment(s)Stiga Kelvar blade[2]
Highest ranking9th (2008)[3]
Medal record
Women's table tennis
Representing  Singapore
ITTF Pro Tour
Silver medal – second place 2007 Taipei Singles
Bronze medal – third place 2008 Santiago Singles
Silver medal – second place 2008 Yokohama Team
Bronze medal – third place 2008 Singapore Singles
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 2008 Beijing Team
World Team Table Tennis Championships
Silver medal – second place 2008 Guangzhou Team

Template:Chinese name Feng Tianwei (Chinese: 冯天薇; pinyin: Féng Tiānwēi) (born 31 August 1986) is a Singaporean table tennis player, ranked ninth in the world as a singles player as of August 2008. Born in China, she began training in Singapore in March 2007 and commenced her international career in competitive table tennis the following month. She became a Singapore citizen in January 2008.

Feng represented Singapore for the first time in the Olympic Games at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. On 15 August, the Singapore team comprised of Feng and her teammates Li Jiawei and Wang Yuegu defeated South Korea 3–2 in the semifinals. The team lost to China in the final, but obtained the silver medal. This was Singapore's first Olympic medal in 48 years and its first as an independent nation.

Early years

Feng Tianwei was born on 31 August 1986[1] in Harbin, Heilongjiang, People's Republic of China.[4] She is the only daughter of Feng Qingzhi, a granary worker, and his wife Li Chunping, an employee of a department store. Feng's parents lived frugally for years to pay for her table tennis training. However, her father died from multiple sclerosis in 2002, weeks before Feng tried out for China's national B squad. Although Feng topped the qualifying matches and was called up for the national team in 2003, she suffered from a long illness; a source close to her said it was "because she missed her father too much".[5] When playing in a Japanese professional league she was spotted by the Singapore Table Tennis Association, and in March 2007 was invited to train in Singapore under the Foreign Sports Talent Scheme. She became a Singapore citizen in January 2008.[4]

Career as national player

Feng made her international début for Singapore in June 2007 as an under-21 player at the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Pro Tour Volkswagen Korean Open.[4][6] As a singles player, Feng was ranked 73rd in the world in August 2007.[3] Nonetheless, that month she achieved a silver medal in the singles at the ITTF Pro Tour Chinese Taipei Open, her compatriot Li Jiawei beating her to take the gold.[7]

Feng was a member of the silver medal-winning Singapore women's team at the World Team Championships in Guangzhou in 2008, and also defeated the top seed Zhang Yining from China in the quarter-finals of the Asian Cup held in Sapporo between 29 March and 30 March 2008, eventually achieving second place behind China's Guo Yue.[8] She obtained singles bronze medals at the ITTF Pro Tour Chile Open in April[6] and the Singapore Open in June 2008,[9] and helped the women's team to a second place at the Volkswagen Japan Open in Yokohama on 24 May 2008.[10] As of August 2008, she had worked her way up to a ninth-place ranking in the world.[3]

2008 Summer Olympics

See also: Li Jiawei – 2008 Summer Olympics

Feng represented Singapore for the first time at the 2008 Summer Olympics in the women's table tennis team tournament. The youngest member of the team which included Li Jiawei and Wang Yuegu, she contributed significantly to Singapore's 3–2 win against South Korea in the semifinals on 15 August by defeating Dang Ye-Seo and Park Mi-Young in two singles matches. Feng's match against Park was closely fought, with Feng eventually overcoming Park 3–1. Singapore was assisted by the implementation of the expedite system when the game failed to be completed in ten minutes. Under the system, players serve on alternative points rather than on every two points. A receiving player scores a point if she manages 13 returns, which disadvantages defensive play by the server. The system unsettled Park, and Feng won two minutes after its introduction in the match when Park committed a service fault.[11] Interviewed afterwards, Feng said: "I definitely did not expect that [Park's error]. It was a surprise and the best birthday present I've ever gotten."[4]

On 17 August, Feng and her teammates gained Singapore a silver medal in women's table tennis after losing to China in three matches.[12] Feng played the starting singles match, winning the first game but eventually losing to China's Wang Nan 3–1. This was the first time Singapore had won an Olympic medal since its independence in 1965. The medal came 48 years after Tan Howe Liang won the country's first medal, a silver in weightlifting in the lightweight category at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome.[13]

Feng and her teammates received byes into the third round of the women's singles tournament.[14] Feng defeated South Korea's Dang 4–0 in the third round and the Netherlands' Li Jie 1–4 in the fourth round,[1] but fell 4–1 to China's Zhang Yining in the quarter-finals.[15] Feng made the world number one work for her win, with the final scores being 11–13, 14–12, 12–14, 10–12, 11–13. According to the Straits Times, Zhang leveraged on her experience by stalling for time at crucial stages of the game, which broke Feng's rhythm. Interviewed after the match, Feng said: "I'm sure I'll win a medal at the next Olympics."[15]

Medals

Event Medal Date Competition
2007
Women's singles[7] Silver 26 August 2007 ITTF Pro Tour Chinese Taipei Open
Taipei, Chinese Taipei
2008
Women's team[16]

(with Li Jiawei, Wang Yuegu, Sun Beibei and Yu Mengyu)

Silver 1 March 2008 Evergrande Real Estate World Team Table Tennis Championships
Guangzhou, Guangdong, People's Republic of China
Women's singles[17] Silver 29 March – 30 March 2008 2008 Asian Cup
Sapporo, Hokkaidō Prefecture, Japan
Women's singles[6] Bronze 27 April 2008 ITTF Pro Tour Chile Open
Santiago, Chile
Women's team[10]

(with Li Jiawei and Wang Yuegu)

Silver 24 May 2008 ITTF Pro Tour Volkswagen Japan Open
Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan
Women's singles[9] Bronze 8 June 2008 ITTF Pro Tour TMS Singapore Open
Singapore
Women's team[12]

(with Li Jiawei and Wang Yuegu)

Silver 13 August – 17 August 2008 2008 Summer Olympics
Beijing, People's Republic of China

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d Athlete biography: FENG Tianwei, Beijing 2008, Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, retrieved 2008-08-18 {{citation}}: Text "year-2008" ignored (help).
  2. ^ a b FENG Tianwei, International Table Tennis Federation, retrieved 2008-08-23.
  3. ^ a b c World ranking record for FENG Tianwei (SIN), International Table Tennis Federation, August 2008, retrieved 2008-08-17.
  4. ^ a b c d Chua Chin Hon (2008-08-16), "Match-winner: Win over tenacious rival gives Feng 'best birthday present'", The Straits Times, p. C36 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help).
  5. ^ Chua Chin Hon (2008-08-17), "Medal dreams come true: Gutsy Feng rewards parents' toil and sacrifice", The Straits Times, p. A4 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help).
  6. ^ a b c Ian Marshall (2008-04-27), Number one seed reserves place in women's singles final in Santiago, International Table Tennis Federation, retrieved 2008-08-22 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help).
  7. ^ a b Ian Marshall (2007-08-26), Li Jia Wei returns to winning ways as she succeeds in Chinese Taipei, International Table Tennis Federation, retrieved 2008-08-22 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help).
  8. ^ Lim Han Ming (2008-08-15), "One more step to a medal", The New Paper, p. 64 at 65 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help).
  9. ^ a b Ian Marshall (2008-06-08), Top seeds book places in women's singles final, International Table Tennis Federation, retrieved 2008-08-22 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help).
  10. ^ a b Japan Open 2008 – WSTM2, International Table Tennis Federation, May 2008, retrieved 2008-08-16.
  11. ^ "Compelling: How the Koreans were overcome in five matches", The Straits Times (Sport), p. C34, 2008-08-16 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help).
  12. ^ a b China women take gold, International Herald Tribune, 2008-08-17 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help).
  13. ^ Olympics: Singapore enter women's table-tennis team final, Channel NewsAsia, 2008-08-15, retrieved 2008-08-15 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Marc Lim (2008-08-16), "At last! S'pore assured of at least a silver after 48-year wait", The Straits Times, p. 1 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Leonard Thomas (2008-08-16), "A new Olympic heroine: First medal since 1960", Today, pp. 1 & 3 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Leonard Thomas (2008-08-18), "A silver spark? Feng, Li and Wang could just be what's needed to fire up sports talent and development in S'pore", Today, pp. 1–2 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help).
  14. ^ Low Lin Fhoong (2008-08-21), "Yuegu crashes out: Jiawei and Tianwei cruise into last 16 despite team-mate's shock loss", Today, p. 55 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help).
  15. ^ a b Marc Lim (2008-08-22), "A medal at the next Olympics, vows Feng", The Straits Times (Sport), p. B22 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help).
  16. ^ Ian Marshall (2008-03-01), Singapore provides severe test as China retain women's team world title, International Table Tennis Federation, retrieved 2008-08-16 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help).
  17. ^ The 21st Asian Cup 2008 in Sapporo–Japan: Total result, 29–30 March, 2008 (PDF), Hokkaidō Table Tennis Association, March 2008, retrieved 2008-08-16.

References

External links

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