Latest news with #Izaac
The Hindu
2 days ago
- Sport
- The Hindu
UTT 2025: Izaac Quek aims to end Singapore's 16-year medal drought at LA 2028 Olympics
The Singaporean table tennis community has high hopes from Izaac Quek. Half of the country's six Olympic medals have come in ping pong but there has been no podium-finish since 2012. Also, all three medallists were born in China. But the 19-year-old Izaac is a Singaporean through and through. The talented youngster, who doesn't have a sports background, already made history last year in Paris as the youngest-local born player to qualify for the Olympics. 'I started playing table tennis in school at the age of 7. My family didn't play table tennis at all. I randomly chose the sport because one time, I played with my family and I really enjoyed it. To be able to come from there to qualify for the Olympics was a dream,' said Izaac, who is playing for Dabang Delhi in Season 6 of the Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) league in Ahmedabad. ALSO READ | Indian players keen to learn as Fan Siqi ends eight-year Chinese absence In his debut UTT season, Izaac - the youngest overseas player - has already impressed everyone with wins over Kanak Jha and Portuguese Tiago Apolonia. He had a nervous start against Jha but after conceding the opener to the American, he has clinched five straight games. Apolonia, who is double the age of Izaac, and the 24-year-old Jha found themselves wanting when it came to keeping up with the quick reflexes. The low center of gravity - Izaac is 172cm tall - and raw power help the Singaporean produce winning shots even from some very difficult positions. For Izaac, the current Olympic cycle is very important for him after which he will be forced to leave the paddle for a while. | Photo Credit: VIJAY SONEJI/The Hindu 'There are not many tournaments where you can team up with foreigners, fight and try to win a competition. We always see each other internationally but we are always competing against each other. Trying to adapt and playing together is a good opportunity for me,' said Izaac, describing his experience in India so far. For Izaac, having played all the major tournaments already, the next goal is to better his results at those events. The current Olympic cycle is very important for him after which he will be forced to leave the paddle for a while. 'In Singapore, for boys, two years of military training is compulsory. There are no exemptions even if I win a gold at the Olympics. I can only defer the national service. Right now, I am still in school but I'll be going for military training after the LA Olympics. So, either in late 2028 or 2029,' revealed the teenager. ALSO READ | Dabang Delhi TTC, PBG Pune Jaguars remain unbeaten after winning respective matches World No. 98 Izaac came into the national limelight after his run to the round of 16, which included wins over veterans Achanta Sharath Kamal and Sweden's Mattias Falck, at the Singapore Smash 2023. However, it's his consistency in doubles which could be crucial to the country's hopes of clinching an Olympic medal after 16 years. Izaac and Koen Pang, another local-born Singaporean, are World No. 11 in the men's doubles ITTF Rankings. They also grabbed a silver medal at the Asian Championships 2024. 'We didn't imagine reaching such a high level. We are trying to use that confidence and bring it to singles because we have a lot of room for improvement. The men's doubles are a separate event at the LA Olympics. So, me and Pang will be focussing on the doubles while also improving our singles,' said a hopeful Izaac.
The Hindu
2 days ago
- Sport
- The Hindu
UTT 2025: Izaac Quek aims to end Singapore's 14-year medal drought at LA 2028 Olympics
The Singaporean table tennis community has high hopes from Izaac Quek. Half of the country's six Olympic medals have come in ping pong but there has been no podium-finish since 2012. Also, all three medallists were born in China. But the 19-year-old Izaac is a Singaporean through and through. The talented youngster, who doesn't have a sports background, already made history last year in Paris as the youngest-local born player to qualify for the Olympics. 'I started playing table tennis in school at the age of 7. My family didn't play table tennis at all. I randomly chose the sport because one time, I played with my family and I really enjoyed it. To be able to come from there to qualify for the Olympics was a dream,' said Izaac, who is playing for Dabang Delhi in Season 6 of the Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) league in Ahmedabad. ALSO READ | Indian players keen to learn as Fan Siqi ends eight-year Chinese absence In his debut UTT season, Izaac - the youngest overseas player - has already impressed everyone with wins over Kanak Jha and Portuguese Tiago Apolonia. He had a nervous start against Jha but after conceding the opener to the American, he has clinched five straight games. Apolonia, who is double the age of Izaac, and the 24-year-old Jha found themselves wanting when it came to keeping up with the quick reflexes. The low center of gravity - Izaac is 172cm tall - and raw power help the Singaporean produce winning shots even from some very difficult positions. For Izaac, the current Olympic cycle is very important for him after which he will be forced to leave the paddle for a while. | Photo Credit: VIJAY SONEJI/The Hindu 'There are not many tournaments where you can team up with foreigners, fight and try to win a competition. We always see each other internationally but we are always competing against each other. Trying to adapt and playing together is a good opportunity for me,' said Izaac, describing his experience in India so far. For Izaac, having played all the major tournaments already, the next goal is to better his results at those events. The current Olympic cycle is very important for him after which he will be forced to leave the paddle for a while. 'In Singapore, for boys, two years of military training is compulsory. There are no exemptions even if I win a gold at the Olympics. I can only defer the national service. Right now, I am still in school but I'll be going for military training after the LA Olympics. So, either in late 2028 or 2029,' revealed the teenager. ALSO READ | Dabang Delhi TTC, PBG Pune Jaguars remain unbeaten after winning respective matches World No. 98 Izaac came into the national limelight after his run to the round of 16, which included wins over veterans Achanta Sharath Kamal and Sweden's Mattias Falck, at the Singapore Smash 2023. However, it's his consistency in doubles which could be crucial to the country's hopes of clinching an Olympic medal after 16 years. Izaac and Koen Pang, another local-born Singaporean, are World No. 11 in the men's doubles ITTF Rankings. They also grabbed a silver medal at the Asian Championships 2024. 'We didn't imagine reaching such a high level. We are trying to use that confidence and bring it to singles because we have a lot of room for improvement. The men's doubles are a separate event at the LA Olympics. So, me and Pang will be focussing on the doubles while also improving our singles,' said a hopeful Izaac.
The Hindu
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
Izaac and Maria shine, Dabang exacts revenge against Challengers
Riding on a sterling show by Quek Izaac up front and Maria Xiao in the last rubber, Dabang Delhi TTC avenged last year's final loss against defending champion Goa Challengers in the sixth edition of Ultimate Table Tennis. The 9-6 victory at the EKA Arena on Wednesday not only brought a smile to captain G. Sathiyan's face — despite being beaten by arch rival Harmeet Desai in his singles affair — but also catapulted the Delhi outfit to the top of the standings. Izaac – the Singaporean teenager – set the tone for Dabang by overcoming veteran Tiago Apolonia, the five-time Olympian, in the first match. Despite being ranked much lower than the Portugal paddler, Izaac's raw power and quick reflexes helped him win all three games in the battle between the youngest and oldest overseas participants of the season. Zeng Jian – Izaac's fellow Singaporean – then brought parity to the scoreline by handing Dabang's Diya Chitale a lesson in consistently finishing off rallies. Sathiyan and Maria then teamed up to defeat Harmeet and Zeng before Harmeet levelled the scoreline at six games apiece after trailing 1-0. Harmeet upped the ante and increased his pace substantially to force Sathiyan into errors at key moments. But Maria, the Spaniard, cruised past UTT debutant Sayali Wani — who was preferred ahead of Krittwika Sinha Roy — in the deciding rubber to extend Dabang's points tally to 19. Later, Reeth Rishya's clean slate in the last women's singles helped PBG Pune Jaguars outplay Kolkata ThunderBlades 10-5 in the night match and join Dabang Delhi as joint leaders in the points table. The results: Dabang Delhi TTC bt Dempo Goa Challengers 9-6 (Quek Izaac bt Tiago Apolonia 11-8, 11-9, 11-9; Diya Chitale lost to Zeng Jian 9-11, 5-11, 6-11; Maria Xiao & G. Sathiyan bt Zeng & Harmeet Desai 8-11, 11-5, 11-8; Sathiyan lost to Harmeet 11-8, 9-11, 9-11; Maria bt Sayali Wani 11-3, 11-7, 11-6). PBG Pune Jaguars bt Kolkata ThunderBlades 10-5 (Alvaro Robles bt Quadri Aruna 10-11, 11-10, 11-10; Dina Meshref bt Adriana Diaz 11-8, 1-11, 11-10; Dina & Anirban Ghosh bt Diaz & Ankur Bhattacharjee 11-9, 11-9, 7-11; Anirban lost to Ankur 8-11, 7-11, 11-8; Reeth Rishya bt Selenadeepthi Selvakumar 11-9, 11-8, 11-8). Thursday's fixtures: Jaipur Patriots vs U Mumba TT (5 p.m.); Stanley's Chennai Lions vs Ahmedabad SG Pipers (7.30 p.m.).
India Today
6 days ago
- Sport
- India Today
Dabang Delhi crush Jaipur Patriots 11-4 to begin UTT 2025 campaign
Former champions Dabang Delhi TTC started their campaign on a positive note by outplaying Jaipur Patriots 11-4 in the opening match of Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) here Izaac of Singapore came from a game down to beat American Kanak Jha 2-1 (5-11 11-5 11-9) in the first men's singles match to hand 2018 champions Dabang Delhi the international Sreeja Akula brought Jaipur Patriots back with a 2-1 (4-11 11-9 11-10) win over Maria Xiao of Spain in women's Olympian Sathiyan Gnanasekaran then joined forces with Xiao for Dabang Delhi and defeated the pair of Jha and Akula 3-0 (11-6 11-10 11-6) in the mixed doubles was on fire then, scoring an easy 3-0 (11-6 11-7 11-6) win over Jeet Chandra in the reverse men's Chitale took looked in good touch and was quick with both her forehand and backhand shots. She used top spin serves and powerful forehand smashed to prevail over Netherland's Britt Eerland to hand Dabang Delhi an easy win and confident the league stage of UTT league, a game is won when a player scores first 11 points, with a golden point used deciding games that are tied at 10-10.A team wins a tie by winning the most games. In the league stage, a team wins a tie by winning at least eight out of the 15 total games.
