SINGAPORE — Their new coach has yet to be appointed, but the Singapore men’s table tennis team remain focused on a good showing at the World Team Table Tennis Championships in February.

With the Kuala Lumpur event less than three months away, the Singapore Table Tennis Association (STTA) has yet to hire a new head coach following a coaching upheaval last month, when the team’s head coach of five years, Yuan Chuanning, was given the sack.

Assistant coaches Wang Xiang and Zhu Jiang are in charge on a caretaker basis, while the STTA is finalising a replacement for Yang — whose professionalism and capability were reportedly questioned by some members of the men’s team leading up to his departure.

Veteran paddler Gao Ning, 33, who is expected to lead the men’s team’s charge at the World Championships, said that preparations have resumed as the paddlers build towards next year’s Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

“We are in the midst of preparations, and everything is as per normal. Training is as per normal,” said Gao, who spoke to TODAY on the sidelines of the 100PLUS Run for Good event yesterday at the Kallang Wave Mall. This saw the paddlers join national athletes from aquatics and track and field hit the treadmill to raise more than S$4,500 for the SportCares Foundation.

“Even though there is some shake-up in the men’s team now, the most important thing is to focus on our own training,” Gao added. “Some of us, including myself, are more senior and experienced. I am a professional athlete, and I can manage my own timetable and training schedule. I am not influenced by whatever coaching issues that might have happened. It’s my own responsibility to train hard.

“We (the rest of the players and I) don’t have to behave like kids, stand around behind and keep gossiping about the coaching issues.”

Deciding to let his bat do the talking, Gao is targeting a top-eight finish for his team at next year’s World Championships. The men’s team have achieved two straight top-eight finishes at the event in 2012 and 2014, and a bronze in the men’s doubles at both the 2013 Asian Championships and last year’s Asian Games.

One name to watch at next year’s World Team Championships is Clarence Chew, whose debut at the worlds last year saw him claim the scalp of Hong Kong’s Wong Chun Ting and Swedish Par Gerell. Both players are ranked more than 200 places higher in the world ranking than Chew, who was ranked No 259 last year and No 229 now.

“Last year’s results were a big confidence booster and I hope to repeat that this time,” said Chew, 20. “We still have to adjust to the new coaching regime, but I don’t think it is affecting us too much.”ADELENE WONG