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Tokyo Olympics: Women's paddlers advance after 3-0 win over France

Singapore paddlers Lin Ye (front) and Yu Mengyu during the women's team round-of-16 tie against France at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. (PHOTO: Jung Yeon-je/AFP)
Singapore paddlers Lin Ye (front) and Yu Mengyu during the women's team round-of-16 tie against France at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. (PHOTO: Jung Yeon-je/AFP)

Reporting from Tokyo

TOKYO — Singapore's women's paddlers began their team competition with a 3-0 round-of-16 win over France at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium on Monday (2 August).

Yu Mengyu - who finished fourth in the women's singles competition last week - teamed up with Lin Ye in the opening doubles match to register Singapore's first point with a 3-0 (11-6, 11-5, 13-11) win over Stephanie Loeuillette and Yuan Jia Nan.

"We prepared a lot for doubles because the first match is very crucial," Yu told the official Olympic media service.

"In the third set, they made some changes tactically, but we adjusted. The scoreline makes it look easy, but in reality we were 50-50.”

However, Feng Tianwei endured a scare in the next singles match, trailing by two sets before eking out a 3-2 (8-11, 6-11, 11-3, 11-8, 11-3) win over Prithika Pavade.

"I was prepared for a tough match. Her style is very aggressive, very much like a man’s game," Feng said after her win.

"She took the game to me and had very good mentality. I wasn’t in a mess at 0-2 down; I was prepared for the possibility of trailing in this match. Point by point, I was able to chase back.”

Yu then secured the winning point in the series with a 3-1 (11-8, 7-11, 11-5, 11-8) win over Yuan in the second singles match.

The paddlers will next face the daunting task of trying to overcome powerhouse nation China in the quarter-finals on Tuesday.

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