Table tennis prodigy meets her S’wak match
GOLD COAST, Australia: An 11-year- old Welsh table tennis prodigy who broke records and caused amazement at the Commonwealth Games met her match on Tuesday when she was ousted from the women’s singles.
Anna Hursey thrashed Uganda’s Halima Nambozo 4- 0 but she came unstuck in her second pool match against Malaysia’s Alice Chang Li Sian, who won 11- 8, 11- 8, 11- 3, 11- 4.
She (Hursey) has a lot of supporters but I don’t care about the outside (noise), I just play my match. Alice Chang, Malaysian table tennis athlete
Despite the defeat, it has been a stunning debut for Hursey, who stands just 1.60 metres (5ft 3in) tall and is thought to be the youngest athlete in Commonwealth Games history.
Hursey, the youngest competitor ever fielded by Wales, also played in the women’s team competition, helping Wales to doubles wins against India and Sri Lanka.
The schoolgirl, whose mother is Chinese and who has training stints in China, is known for her attacking style but Chang, 17, was able to absorb the pressure as well as Hursey’s noisy support from the crowd.
“She has a lot of supporters but I don’t care about the outside (noise), I just play my match,” Chang.
Chang herself is a prodigy from the Malaysian state of Sarawak. In December 2015, the then 15-year-old starlet emerged as Malaysian’s youngest ever national table tennis champion when she defeated a string of the country’s top players. In a thrilling final, the icy cool teenager came back from three sets down to beat the 30-year- old long-time national champion 4-3.
Meanwhi le, coach Stephen Jenkins prai sed Hursey’s composure in the spotlight, saying: “Nothing phases her.”
“She is really relaxed when she plays and just enjoys it really,” Jenkins said.
“Anna herself says to me she is not nervous, which baffles me, because I’m like, ‘Surely you are a little bit nervous?’” he said.
“Anna just thrives off, and feeds off the crowd really,” he added.
Meanwhile, Sarawak’s Jong Yee Khie contributed a silver medal to the Malaysian contingent in the para powerlifting men’s heavyweight. Fellow Sarawakian para powerlifter Bonnie Bunyau Gustin finished fourth in the men’s lightweight final.
Two other Sarawak athletes were also in action yesterday.
In the pool, Olympic swimmer Welson Sim finished a creditable fifth in the men’s 1,500m freestyle final.
National shooter Bibiana Ng only managed a seven- placed finish in the women’s 25m pistol shooting final. — AFP