SEA Games: Yu's time to step up

SINGAPORE - She has been in the national table tennis fold for a number of years already, but Yu Mengyu has spent much of it in the shadow of the crack Olympic team.

Over the years, the paddler has collected notable scalps like current world No. 1 Liu Shiwen of China, and Japan's Kasumi Ishikawa (ninth) and Ai Fukuhara (14th).

But her Singapore teammates like world No. 4 Feng Tianwei and the retired trio of Wang Yuegu, Li Jiawei and Sun Beibei have always been ahead of her in the pecking order.

Now, 24-year-old Yu is about to begin the second phase of her career.

For the first time, she will lead the Singapore women's team at this year's South-east Asia (SEA) Games, which will be held in Naypyidaw, Myanmar, from Dec 11 to 22.

It will be a special occasion for her when she takes to the table for her first match.

"I've never seen myself as a da jie (big sister in Mandarin)," the world No. 22 told The New Paper recently. "I'm thankful the association has put its trust in me and it's understandable that people expect me to win every game because I'm the highest-ranked women's singles player.

STANDARD HAS GONE UP

"It's not going to be easy as the standard in the region has gone up, but I'm ready for the challenge." Singapore table tennis is world-class, with the women comfortably bunched in the group of paddlers in the tier just below the all-powerful Chinese.

The women won a team silver and bronze at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, respectively, while Feng also claimed a women's singles bronze at the 2012 Games.

Yu was part of the team who produced one of the biggest shocks in sports in recent memory when the women's team stunned China to win the world crown in 2010.

She is not taking it easy, though, training up to eight hours a day to prepare for the SEA Games. Yu only has to look back at her mixed bag of results this year to remind herself that there is no room for complacency.

She beat Fukuhara 4-2 at the Asian Championships in July, after a shock loss to 12-year-old Mima Ito, another Japanese, by the same scoreline at the China Open in June.

"That really came as a shock and wake-up call," said Yu, who winced at the memory.

"This year, I've had more defeats than before and it could be due to poor preparation.

"But I'm rebuilding my self-confidence and, by beating Ai, I think my form is returning."

READING TO UNWIND

In her free time, Yu unwinds by reading autobiographies and her latest is Lin Dan's Until The End Of The World.

"It gave me an insight about how he reacts when things are not going his way, or when he goes through a slump," she said.

"Interestingly, he was tipped to win the 2004 Olympics, but he lost to our shuttler Ronald Susilo in the first round.

"Instead of crumbling, Lin Dan worked hard for the next four years to win in 2008, before becoming the first male shuttler to retain the Olympic gold last year when he came from behind to beat Lee Chong Wei."

Yu has been ranked as high as No. 9 in the world (March 2010) and coach Jing Junhong believes she is destined for greater things.

Said the 45-year-old former Olympic singles semi-finalist: "Mengyu is strong and her technique is up there. She is aggressive and powerful just like the guys.

"She has the ability. She just needs to add mental strength, adaptability and big-match temperament to her game. These are more difficult to attain than technique.

"As a team, we can't place all our chips on Tianwei. We also need Mengyu to rise up to complement Tianwei, so that we can have a strong women's team."

It's not going to be easy as the standard in the region has gone up, but I'm ready for the challenge. - Yu Mengyu (above)

davidlee@sph.com.sg

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