Lay and Hu Stand Tall to Take Top Ten Titles

Jian Fang Lay has shown she’s still Australia’s premiere female table tennis player with a comprehensive straight-sets win over four-time Olympian Miao Miao in the final of the National Senior Top Ten competition at Tweed Heads in NSW.

And Victoria’s Heming Hu pulled off a stunning seven-set victory over fellow Rio Olympian Chris Yan to win the men’s title.

The victories mean both Hu and Lay will represent Australia at the 2018 Oceania Table Tennis Cup.

44-year-old Lay and 36-year-old Miao both made their Olympic debuts for Australia at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, with Lay attending her fifth Games in Rio last year.

Both players look set to figure prominently in the race for Australian spots at next year’s Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, which would be there fifth appearance for Australia at this event.

On Sunday it was Lay who took the honours, racing through an 11-4, 11-1, 11-9, 11-7 win over Miao.

2016 Olympian and Paralympian, Melissa Tapper, finished third after dropping the opening set before beating NSW’s Michelle Beaumont 6-11, 11-4, 11-3, 11-8, 11-3.

Several months playing top level table tennis in Europe turned out to be a good investment for 23-year-old Heming Hu, who came from a 3-0 deficit to pull off a stunning seven-set win over NSW’s Chris Yan.

Yan took the opening three sets 11-8, 11-3, 15-13, and was in a position to seal the match in the fourth before his younger opponent clawed back to take it 13-11.

Hu cruised through the next two sets 11-6, 11-4, before both players battled off exhaustion to fight out a stunning final set, Hu eventually prevailing 15-13.

In the battle for third, the dream run of Canberra teenager Rohan Dhooria continued, the 17-year-old defeating Wade Townsend 11-3, 11-9, 11-6, 11-0.