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Move over, Li Jiawei. The Singapore table tennis scene now has a new darling in the form of 21-year-old Feng Tianwei.
Yesterday, the Singapore citizen carried her team into victory - and at least a silver Olympics medal - by winning two of her singles matches in the semi-finals against S Korea in the Beijing 2008 Olympics.
In the afternoon game at the Peking University Gymnasium, the 58-kg Feng pushed Singapore into a winning start by beating S Korea's Dang Ye Seo in her first match.
Despite her other teammates' less-than-stellar performances in the second and fourth matches, Feng won the deciding rubber against Park Mi Young, allowing Singapore to beat S Korea 3-2 in a five-set thriller.
So just who exactly is Singapore's new heroine?
According to a report from The Straits Times, the China-born lass first caught the eye of the Singapore Table Tennis Association early 2007 when she was playing in a Japanese professional league.
She was then coaxed into joining the Singapore team last March and made her debut as an Under-21 player on the International Table Tennis Federation's Pro-Tour, continued the report.
She has since trailblazed her way up the world rankings and went from No 73 last August to her current ninth position.
Feng, who is single and also the youngest in the Singapore team, was made a Singapore citizen in January this year.
The 1.64m-tall player, who speaks mostly in Mandarin and little English, will be celebrating her birthday on Aug 31.
The women's table tennis team will face favourites China in the final on sunday.
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