KUALA LUMPUR – The Malaysian women’s team won two teams in the preliminary stage of ITTF World Team Championship, a heartening news for Beh Lee Wei.
The Malaysian women team, who were specially invited into this year’s ITTF World Team Championships, lost to Puerto Rico 2-3 on the first day, then took down the United States 3-2 in the second match and knocked off Canada 3-1 yesterday, making it 2 wins and 1 loss. The team will challenge China in the final match of the preliminary stage tomorrow.
In a telephone interview with China Press, coach of the national team Beh Lee Wei explained, “Due to the pandemic and movement control order last year, we were unable to participate in the Asian team competition, which was one of the qualifying events for the World Championships. Therefore, to be frank, our results do not qualify for the game. Out of the 28 teams participating, our team is ranked 58th in the world, which has the lowest ranking.”
“Before the tournament, we went out with a training mentality. When the draw came out, we feel that it is still possible to win in the preliminary stage. It was a shame that we lost the 1st game against Puerto Rico by 2-3. In that match, Ho Ying was not in good form and unfortunately lost at the crucial point.”
“Yet, the victory over the US and Canada in day 2 and 3 really inspired us, and gave us much encouragement, since we are participating in world-class events. During the match with Canada, Karen’s form was less than ideal and she lost the game during the first match.”
“However, it was a rewarding trip during this ITTF World Team Championship. We are glad to have attained our goals, which is, to gain victory among world-class players; gain more playing experiences, especially for Tee Ai Xin; and finally, we had the chance to play against the ever-winning China.” Translated from: China Press
