Other sports: The women’s team turns the tables on the fancied Thais in the final

The women’s national table tennis team is in the SEA Games final again after 30 years.

The side of Karen Lyne, Ho Ying, Alice Chang, Tee Ai Xin and Im Li Ying beat Vietnam 3-0 to reach the final at the Morodok Techo National Stadium table tennis hall last night. They will face Thailand in the championship match today.

The last time Malaysia reached the finals was in Singapore in 1993, when the team led by Phua Bee Sim finished second to Indonesia.

The road to the finals had looked bright for the Beh Lee Wei-coached side after they pulled off a stunning upset by beating neighbors Singapore 3-0 in a late-night group tie on Tuesday in the second leg of the Birmingham Commonwealth Games final.

Karen, Alice and Ai Xin sealed their SEA Games victory against Singapore in what is believed to be the first of this millennium. Karen defeated Zhou Jingyi 3-2 (16-18, 11-8, 9-11, 15-13, 11-6) and took the first point.

Singapore ran into further trouble when Alice upset Zeng Jian 2-3 (10-12, 11-8, 11-9 4-11, 3-11).

Ai Xin continued the momentum by defeating Wong Xin Ru 3-1 (12-10, 12-10, 7-11, 11-9).

Second in the group, Singapore progressed further and reached the last four after beating Cambodia 3-0. In the semifinals, they lost 0-3 to the defending champion and Group A winner Thailand.

This is the first time since the 1997 SEA Games in Jakarta that Singapore failed to reach the women’s team final.

Malaysia won bronze in the women’s team event in Hanoi last year.

Alice said: Instead of being too happy, we need to control our emotions now because we face an uphill battle tomorrow (today).

We have never beaten Thailand and last year in our SEA Championship last year we lost 3-2.