Tokyo Olympics: Yu Mengyu powers past 2 rivals in 1 day
Reporting from Tokyo
TOKYO — In what is likely to be her final Olympics, Singapore paddler Yu Mengyu seems intent on making sure she leaves with a last hurrah.
On Tuesday (27 July), the 31-year-old - whose career has been blighted by debilitating injuries - powered past two opponents on the same day to book herself a spot in the women's singles quarter-finals, matching her performance at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games.
In the morning, she scored a minor upset in stunning world No. 8 Cheng I-ching of Taiwan 4-0 (11-5, 11-9, 12-10, 11-6) at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium.
Then in the evening, the world No.47 was again in imperious form, fending off the United States' Liu Juan 4-2 (11-9, 11-9, 11-9, 8-11, 6-11, 11-8) to book a last-eight tie with Japan's fifth seed Kasumi Ishikawa.
"I've had some injuries while preparing for battle – some days are better, some days are worse," she said after her win over Cheng.
"Now I'm here, I just want to give everything and not have any regrets."
Controlled match against higher-ranked opponent
Against Cheng, Yu showed scant regard for the gulf in rankings as she controlled the entire match, giving Cheng no opportunity to mount a comeback.
However, when asked about the key to her upset, she preferred to attribute it to Cheng being involved in the mixed doubles bronze-medal match the day before.
"All of her energy has gone into mixed doubles. I had a rest day yesterday and was able to better prepare for today. I think my preparations – whether in terms of rest or tactics – were more thorough," she told the official Olympic media service.
Yu had also beaten her second-round opponent, Portugal's Shao Jieni, in straight sets on Sunday.
Another Singapore paddler, Feng Tianwei, crashed out of the women's singles last-16 as she lost 1-4 (11-13, 7-11, 9-11, 11-8, 8-11) to Germany's Han Ying.
Stay in the know on-the-go: Join Yahoo Singapore's Telegram channel at http://t.me/YahooSingapore
Other Olympic stories:
Tokyo Olympics: Loh Kean Yew passes first Games test
Tokyo Olympics: Feng Tianwei opens 4th Games campaign with win
Tokyo Olympics: One astonishing lift, and Hidilyn Diaz makes golden history
Tokyo Olympics: Naomi Osaka breaks media silence, even smiles
Tokyo Olympics: Debutant jitters? Not these unflappable Singaporean upstarts
