Singapore’s Men’s and Women’s Doubles pairs of Koen Pang and Ellsworth Le, and Ser Lin Qian and Loy Ming Ying, finished runners-up in their respective events at the WTT Feeder Cappadocia II on Saturday, 20 September.

Both pairs enjoyed exceptional runs to the finals, but ultimately had to settle for second, falling to strong Japanese opponents in each match.

Pang and Le, who fought their way into the main draw from the Qualifying Rounds, fell 3-1 in the Men’s Doubles final to Yuhi Sakai and Hayate Suzuki, with scores of 9-11, 11-7, 8-11, 7-11.

The Men’s Doubles pair had a relatively straightforward route to the final, firstly beating the Hungarian pair of Balasz Lei and Davide Szantosi 3-1 (8-11, 11-6, 11-5, 12-10) in the Round of 16, before ousting fellow Singaporeans, Clarence Chew and Josh Chua in the quarterfinals, winning 13-11, 16-14, 6-11, 11-9. They then beat Rafael De Las Heras and Diego Lillo of Spain in straight sets 11-8, 11-6, 11-8 to reach the final.

Seeded 9th, Ser and Loy were unable to overcome the top-seeded duo of Hitomi Sato and Saki Shibata. The Japanese pair’s experience and skill proved decisive, as the Singaporeans went down 3-0 in straight sets, 4-11, 8-11, 7-11.

Ser and Loy had earlier ousted another Japanese pair Asuka Sasao and Reina Aso in a thrilling semifinal, eventually prevailing 3-2 (8-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-8, 11-8) to set up their meeting with Sato and Shibata.

These results meant that Pang, partnering Le in place of his regular partner Izaac Quek, and Ser both secured podium finishes in back-to-back events, following their mixed doubles silver at the WTT Feeder Istanbul just a week earlier.

Meanwhile, Loy made history as the youngest Singaporean paddler to win a WTT Feeder medal, claiming her first medal at this level at just 15 years old. Her achievements at the WTT Youth level have now been mirrored on the senior stage, marking another milestone in her rising career.

There was a third place finish for Tan Zhao Yun in the Women’s Singles, with her outstanding run ended by eventual champion, Sato, in the semifinals.

The 20-year-old had ousted 4th seed Manika Batra of India in the Round of 32, with a 3-1 victory, and followed that giant-killing feat by beating 5th seed Yoo Yerin of the Republic of Korea in the quarterfinals, also by a score of 3-1.