Singapore won their first men’s table tennis team gold at a Commonwealth Games with a hard-fought 3-1 win over England on Saturday.
The come-from-behind victory followed on from Singapore women’s team’s success in the gold medal match on Friday.
England made a fine start when 17-year-old Liam Pitchford came back from two sets down to beat Singapore’s No. 1 Gao Ning 4-11 6-11 11-8 11-9 13-11.
With the the pressure on the top seeds Zi Yang rose to the challenge to level the tie by beating Paul Drinkhall 9-11 11-7 11-9 11-1.
The tie swung in Singapore’s favour when Ma Liang beat veteran Andrew Baggeley 8-11 11-8 11-8 11-6.
Gao then sparked celebrations among the small Singapore contingent in the crowd when he secured the title with a 9-11 11-9 11-1 11-7 victory over Drinkhall.
“The crucial point came from Ma Liang. He’s a young player but he was able to put up a great fight. Both he and Gao Ning came prepared for a tough match,” said Zi.
“At the last Commonwealth Games I lost my match which contributed to us losing the gold medal. That made me all the more determined to win today.”
Gao said he was delighted to have made amends for his defeat to Pitchford by grabbing the crucial victory.
“I managed to keep my emotions down after that first match. After losing the first set in my second match, I had to readjust. Even though I had a scare in the fourth set, I was calm and I could then finish off my opponent,” he said.
India had earlier claimed the bronze with a 3-0 win over Nigeria.
Singapore squad member Cai Xiaoli became only the second man to win five medals in table tennis at the Games.
Nigeria’s Segun Toriola also won five medals, two in 2002 and three in 2006.
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