Table-tennnis: Still no Chinese breakthrough for Feng

After a meek 1-4 semi-final loss, Feng Tianwei's 4-0 Women's World Cup triumph over Hong Kong's Jiang Hujun for bronze might have come across as just consolation.

But a third-place finish was, in truth, a creditable performance from the world No. 4 Singaporean in an event reserved for the best in the business.

The World Cup went, predictably, to a Chinese - as has been the case since the event's inception in 1996. At this year's edition in Kobe, Japan, the recipient was world No. 1 Liu Shiwen.

Chinese dominance is something the Singapore camp is not too pleased about but is also something it continues to struggle to overcome.

The Chinese players are simply in a different league, said national women's table tennis team head coach Jing Junhong.

She told The Straits Times in a phone interview on Monday: "It simply boils down to a question of strength.

"To get to the final, you really can rely only on merit - not luck or anything else," added the former national paddler, noting that Feng's path to the final of top-notch events tends to be halted by stronger opponents.

"Our technical abilities are still slightly below those of the Chinese players," said Jing.

This gap remains even in comparisons with the younger generation of Chinese paddlers such as world No. 5 Zhu Yuling, Chen Meng (No. 7) and Wu Yang (No. 8), whom Feng lost to in Monday's semi-finals.

Said Jing: "China's new generation of players actually have attained the same level of technical abilities as the top players like Liu Shiwen (No.1), Ding Ning (No. 2) and Li Xiaoxia (No.3).

"They just lack the match experience that their seniors have.

"But, technically, there isn't much that separates them."

In Feng's case, the 27-year-old has lost all five of her World Cup semi-final appearances, with four to Chinese opposition. On the rare occasion she got past a Chinese in the quarter-finals in 2008, she fell to Hong Kong's Tie Yana in the penultimate stage.

Since sensationally toppling China to capture the world team title in 2010, the Republic has very rarely emerged victorious when up against the Chinese.

It is a statistic Jing, who was part of the coaching set-up in that historic win, hopes to change.

Finding a way around China, she says, is a perennial issue that goes back to the fundamentals.

She said: "When you play China, it's always an uphill battle.

"We need to continue to train harder, have good quality sparring partners and opponents and, psychologically, try to find the breakthrough."

The Singapore Table Tennis Association is looking into engaging more sparring partners, having recently engaged a new player from China to train with its stable of national paddlers.

maychen@sph.com.sg

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