SINGAPORE: They came into the World Table Tennis (WTT) Finals without any expectations, and that seems to have done the trick for Singapore’s Izaac Quek and Koen Pang, as they notched a stunning upset on Wednesday (Nov 20).
The young pair beat China’s world number one pair of Yuan Licen and Xiang Peng in the men’s doubles quarter-finals at the WTT Finals in Fukuoka, Japan.
At the Kitakyushu General Gymnasium, Quek and Pang took the victory against Yuan and Xiang – the defending champions – 11-6, 11-6, 11-9. They will next face either Japan’s Hiroto Shinozuka and Shunsuke Togami or China’s Lin Shidong and Lin Gaoyuan in the semis of the US$700,000 (S$939,000) event.
“It definitely feels great. I didn’t expect to come to win any matches here to be honest, and especially since they are last year’s champions … I was just coming in without any expectations,” Pang said after the match.
“(Koen and I) discussed and we said: ‘Okay, let’s try to get one set first,'” said Quek.
“I think it was all a process. We didn’t have any expectations. So I think that’s why we got the win today,” he added.
Eighteen-year-old Quek and 22-year-old Pang are ranked tenth in the current world rankings.
Last month, the pair took silver in the men’s doubles at the Asian Table Tennis Championships. Quek and Pang are also the reigning men’s doubles SEA Games gold medallists.
Earlier this year, Quek made his Olympic Games debut in the men’s singles, becoming the youngest Singaporean table tennis player to feature at a Games.
