SINGAPORE – Singapore teenager Loy Ming Ying’s heroic run at the 2026 Youth Olympics came to an end on Nov 5, as the 10th seed lost to Taiwanese fifth seed Chen Min-hsin in the girls’ singles final.

Her 4-2 (5-11, 12-10, 11-8, 11-13, 11-7, 12-10) defeat at the Dakar Expo Center in Senegal capped an inspiring campaign that had seen the Singaporean outwit higher-ranked opponents to reach the final.

Speaking after the final, a crestfallen Ming Ying was in tears at the mixed zone as she said: “I am sad that I lost the final match, but still happy I got a silver medal.

“I didn’t even expect to get a silver. I am happy to be able to fly the Singapore flag.”

On what made the final challenging, the 16-year-old said: “I couldn’t really receive her (opponent’s) service towards the end.”

Going into the gold-medal match, Min-hsin held the psychological advantage, as the 17-year-old led Ming Ying 3-0 in their head-to-head record.

While the Singaporean won the first game and fought back to make it 2-2, the match eventually got away from her.

In the International Table Tennis Federation Under-19 girls’ singles world ranking, Min-hsin is ranked 22nd while Ming Ying is No. 43.

Her silver medal matches the Republic’s previous best performance in table tennis at the quadrennial event in 2010, when Isabelle Li finished second to Chinese top seed Gu Yuting at the inaugural YOG hosted by Singapore.

Ming Ying, a Singapore Sports School student who was supposed to take her O levels in 2026, has been on a leave of absence from school to prepare for the YOG.

That allowed her to focus on training and fine-tune her technique, which helped her overcome higher-ranked seeds, including her semi-final opponent, Su Tsz Tung of Hong Kong.

Earlier on Nov 5, Ming Ying stunned the second seed 4-2 (5-11, 11-6, 11-9, 7-11, 11-8, 11-9), while Min-hsin swept top seed Miku Matsushima of Japan 4-0 (12-10, 11-6, 11-5, 11-6) in the other semi-final.

En route to the semis, Ming Ying had also overcome India’s eighth seed and Asian youth medallist Syndrela Das 4-0 (11-7, 11-6, 11-4, 11-6) in the last 16, before defeating French fourth seed and European youth champion Nina Guo 4-1 (13-11, 11-8, 6-11, 11-4, 13-11) in the quarter-finals.

“I am proud because in the group round, I was really nervous. I’m proud of myself that I could overcome the challenges from getting second in group, and slowly play better,” said Ming Ying, who will fly back to Singapore before heading to Malaysia for the Nov 10-14 South-east Asian Table Tennis Championships in Kuala Lumpur.

“I took a gap year to play this competition (so) to be able to medal, my hard work this year has paid off.

“It (the run to the final) definitely gave me a bit more confidence because I won (against) a few people that I have lost to before.”

Ming Ying, who picked up the sport when she was five, has risen steadily through the ranks after producing creditable showings on the international stage that have belied her youth.

She was 13 when she became the youngest player to win a Singapore Smash singles match, by beating France’s Audrey Zarif 3-1 in the first round of qualifying at the 2024 tournament.

The following year, the SSP student enjoyed more success at the senior level as she became the youngest player of the women’s national team at age 14.

In 2025, she was part of the side that won the Asian Team Championships women’s team bronze, besides clinching a SEA Games women’s team silver and women’s doubles bronze with Ser Lin Qian, on her major Games debut.

The teenager has had a memorable 2026, winning the SEA Youth Championships U-15 girls’ singles title in April, before making her Asiad debut in September.

Ming Ying’s silver is Singapore’s second medal at the 2026 YOG, after wushu exponent Ng Zhe Nin, 16, struck gold in the women’s taijiquan combined event on Nov 3.

Both girls, who were roommates in Dakar, have known each other since young and were studying at Elias Park Primary School.

“I watched her finals match and she said she would watch my match when she touches down in Singapore,” added Ming Ying.

The Oct 31-Nov 13 Dakar Games were initially supposed to take place in 2022, but was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

At the ongoing Games, Singapore are represented by 14 athletes competing in archery, athletics, badminton, 3x3 basketball, fencing, artistic gymnastics, sailing, table tennis and wushu.