ROOTED IN S'PORE SUCCESS

Feng's drive to nurture talent in academy stems from platform Republic provided her

- David Lee Senior Sports Correspondent

Singapore's Olympic medallist Feng Tianwei taking Jalan Kayu MP Ng Chee Meng on a tour of a photo wall of her achievements during the opening of the Feng Tianwei International Table Tennis Academy.

(PHOTO: KEVIN LIM)

The Republic's most bemedalled Olympian Feng Tianwei never doubted her long-term future in Singapore after she hung up her bat in 2022.

On April 15, she officially opened the Feng Tianwei International Table Tennis Academy (FTTA) at The Sports Arina @ Jalan Kayu, a facility in Fernvale built by sports aficionado Richard Tan that will also feature badminton, contrast therapy, futsal, gymnastics, padel, pilates, pickleball and swimming.

In her speech, delivered in English and Mandarin, she cited a Chinese idiom about remembering the origins of water while drinking it, which means to remember where one’s success came from.

Feng, who has a women’s team silver from the Beijing 2008 Olympics and women’s singles and team bronzes from London 2012, said: “We built this academy right here in the heartland because I have always believed world-class training should never be out of reach. It belongs to every young person with a dream.