In focus: Choong Javen and Karen Lyne (below) will play Achanta Sharath Kamal-Akula Sreeja of India in the final. — Bernama
TABLE tennis players Choong Javen and Karen Lyne credited the growing belief in their partnership for their stunning run to the mixed doubles final.
Javen-Karen had toppled Singapore’s Clarence Chew-Zeng Jian 11-7, 5-11, 11-7, 11-7 in the semi-finals last night. Earlier, they stunned India’s top seeds Sathiyan Gnanesekaran-Manika Batra 12-10, 9-11, 8-11, 11-7, 11-7 in the quarter-finals.
They will play another Indian pair Achanta Sharath Kamal-Akula Sreeja in the final today.
“Before this Games, I told Karen we have a chance to do well although we received a tough draw. The Indian pair were the top seeds but we never gave up and fought all the way.
“We also didn’t put pressure on ourselves and just enjoyed the game,” said Javen.
“We also prepared well for the match and it paid off,” he added.
The self-belief within the table tennis camp had been evident from the beginning of the Games as Karen was part of the women’s team that captured a silver after pulling off huge upsets over defending champions India and Wales en route to the final. The men’s team also caught the eye when they toppled Australia in the group stages on the way to a quarter-final finish.
