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Singapore's Feng Tianwei, Wang Yuegu and Sun Bei Bei created history when they beat reigning champions China 3-1 in the World Team Table Tennis Championships 2010.

Credit goes to Feng Tianwei, Singapore’s world No 2, for staging a comeback against China’s world No 4, Ding Ning in the first singles. That gave Wang Yuegu the confidence to score an upset over world No.1 Liu Shiwen 11-7, 11-8, 2-11, 12-10. However Sun Beibei’s lost to China’s Guo Yan. Fortunately, Feng Tianwei clinched the winning point against Liu Shiwen.

Winning the World Championships is sweet revenge for Singapore after losing in the 2008 final and the Olympic final to the Chinese. China has been table tennis world champions for 19 years but we show that putting heart and soul into a task can yield miracles. South Korea also stunned China recently in the Uber Cup.

Some Singaporeans may think that China B team has won. To be fair, if we are to depend on our own talents, we can never rub shoulders with China, not to mention being world champions in table tennis. China's system of talent spotting and training regime is just too good.

The girls in our team are talented and hardworking (especially Feng Tianwei who has incredible fighting spirit) but not good enough to make it into China's A Team. They will languish in mediocrity if Singapore has not given them the chance to compete.

So Singaporeans can feel proud that it is our infrastructure, coaching and opportunity that have made this world champion feat possible. Of course, there is also a huge element of luck considering that Feng Tianwei has never won against China top ranked players.

Can we aspire to Olympic glory too? We may need more luck as China is not likely to slip up again. For now, let's just celebrate and congratulate our victorious table tennis team which will arrive back at Changi's Terminal 1 at 9pm.

[CNA]