Izaac Quek, Koen Pang earn rivals’ respect for sportsmanship in key S’pore Smash game

SINGAPORE – A last-16 defeat for home favourites Izaac Quek and Koen Pang at the World Table Tennis (WTT) Singapore Smash may never make it into their career highlights’ reels.

But their act of sportsmanship in the men’s doubles match at The Kallang’s OCBC Arena on Feb 24 is unlikely to be forgotten by their fans and rivals any time soon.

With the score tied at 5-5 in the deciding set, the Singapore duo were handed a vital point as the umpire deemed that their opponents, Argentina’s world No. 30 pair Horacio Cifuentes and Santiago Lorenzo, were time-wasting when it was their turn to serve and handed them a red card.

The Argentinians protested as Quek and Pang were still in discussion and not ready for their serve.

The world No. 4 pair from Singapore agreed. When play resumed, Pang conceded the point, restoring parity at 6-6 and earning applause from the crowd.

The Argentinians eventually won 3-2 (11-13, 12-10, 7-11, 11-7, 11-9) to reach the quarter-finals.

Quek said: “The red card was for time-wasting, but both of us were not ready, so technically, that’s not really time-wasting…

“I said to the umpire that it’s not fair and then the umpire said it is her decision, so we have to continue with the match.

“So we returned the point to them, which is deserved.”

When asked if it was the right call as it came when they were chasing victory, Pang admitted that it was a tight match that could have gone either way.

But he added: “We felt that the decision the umpire gave was incorrect and so we gave the point back to them.”

Lorenzo lauded the Singaporeans for their sportsmanship, adding: “We have to say thanks to them, because it was not their obligation to give us this point. So we have a lot of respect for them.”

Cifuentes said: “We saw Izaac and Koen speaking and so we cannot serve. We have to speak in doubles.

“We are not playing singles, we need to speak a little bit with our partner. I think they (WTT) need to review these rules, because they are not good.”

Quek and Pang were not the only seeded players to fall on Day 3 of the tournament, which saw a total turnout of 3,072 spectators.

South Korea’s top-seeded Lim Jong-hoon and An Jae-hyun lost 3-2 (7-11, 13-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-8) to Belgian world No. 15 Martin Allegro and Adrien Rassenfosse.

Allegro said: “To beat the first seeds of the tournament is something a bit unbelievable.

“We already played with them a few times, and it was always really difficult for us, so today we are still a bit shocked…

“We were the underdogs, so it was quite easy to play relaxed.”

Hong Kong’s second-seeded Baldwin Chan and Wong Chun Ting then fell 3-0 (11-5, 11-6, 11-9) to French wild cards Esteban Dorr and Florian Bourrassaud, who will meet Lorenzo and Cifuentes next.

In the first match of the evening, local teenage duo Loy Ming Ying and Chloe Lai surprised themselves by notching the biggest win of their careers in the women’s doubles.

The wild cards came from behind to upset sixth-seeded duo German Wan Yuan and Australian Liu Yangzi 3-2 (4-11, 11-8, 4-11, 11-9, 11-3). In the process, they became the Republic’s first women’s doubles pair to reach the last eight at WTT Grand Smash level – the highest tier of the WTT Series.

Buzzing from their win and grinning from ear to ear at the mixed zone, the duo told reporters that they “never thought about winning”.

Lai, 18, said: “This is our third Singapore Smash playing doubles together, and to be able to make it so far, everyone will be really happy.”

Asked how she was feeling, Ming Ying, 15, said: “We are feeling super-duper happy.

“We came into Smash with the mindset of just trying our best as we are one of the younger ones in the tournament.”

The duo, who are the only Singaporeans left in the US$1.55 million (S$1.96 million) tournament, will next face their idols, third seeds Miwa Harimoto and Hina Hayata of Japan, in the quarter-finals on Feb 25.

Ming Ying said: “They’re among the top few (players) in the world and it’s very rare to get to play against them. Miwa is my idol, but I won’t put so much pressure on myself and just treat her as a normal opponent.”

Compatriots Zeng Jian and Ser Lin Qian, however, exited after succumbing 3-1 (11-5, 10-12, 11-9, 11-2) to the second-seeded pairing of Japan’s Satsuki Odo and South Korea’s Joo Cheon-hui.

Ser (126th) then fell 3-0 (11-8, 13-11, 11-7) to China’s eighth-ranked Chen Yi in the women’s singles last 32.

In the final match of the evening involving Singaporeans, men’s doubles pair Clarence Chew and Josh Chua lost 3-1 (7-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-3) to China’s world No. 6 Lin Shidong and Huang Youzheng.

Elsewhere, women’s world No. 2 Wang Manyu of China booked a last-16 spot after she beat Chinese Taipei’s 18th-ranked Cheng I-ching 3-1 (11-9, 9-11, 11-4, 11-5), with South Korea’s 13th-ranked Shin Yu-bin up next.

Men’s world No. 1 Wang Chuqin breezed past Japan’s 19th-ranked Shunsuke Togami 3-0 (11-9, 11-8, 11-5) and will meet Denmark’s 17th-ranked Anders Lind in the last 16.

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