KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 13 — Malaysian paddlers Javen Choong and Wong Qi Shen defeated China’s top-ranked pair Lin Shidong and Lin Gaoyuan 3-2 in a stunning upset victory to win bronze at the Asian Table Tennis Championships in Kazakhstan.
This victory marked Malaysia’s first individual medal in the tournament, breaking a 54-year medal drought.
According to Free Malaysia Today, national coach Beh Lee Wei praised the duo for playing fearlessly despite being underdogs
“It’s a major breakthrough for Malaysian table tennis,” Beh was quoted as saying.
Choong and Wong lost at the semifinal stage to Singapore’s Koen Pang and Izaac Quek.
They earlier defeated South Korea’s 16th-ranked pair of Jang Woo-jin-Cho Dae-seong to reach the quarterfinals.
