SINGAPORE — Participating at the recent 28th SEA Games may have cost Singapore table tennis star Feng Tianwei more time to recover from a chronic knee injury, but national coach Jing Junhong has no regrets in selecting her for the biennial meet.

World No 6 Feng — Singapore’s top female paddler — requires constant treatment on her knee – which involves the injection of hyaluronic acid to enable her to continue her quest of qualifying for the 2016 Olympic Games.

It takes about six weeks of rest and recovery after each treatment before Feng can return to full training.

But just three weeks after her previous injection in May, the world number seven was back on court to represent Singapore at the SEA Games. However, the injury severely impacted Feng’s performance at the Games, and she missed out on winning gold in the women’s singles and the women’s doubles events.

Speaking during a visit to Qi Hua Primary School today (July 15), where the national team gave a talk to the school’s students, Jing said: “We don’t regret having Feng participate in the SEA Games. It’s a new experience for the team to have an injured player during the tournament and we can learn a lot from it.

Singapore paddlers spar with students of Qihua Primary School. Video: Robin Choo/TODAY

“Even though she (Feng) lost, we have to move on and see what can be improved on. After the Games, everyone sat down and discussed what could have been done better instead of pushing the blame to one another. We can also learn a lot from our defeats and low points.”

Feng, who became only the second ever Singaporean to win an individual Olympic medal after clinching the bronze in the 2012 London Games, admits the unpredictability of her injury means she is unable to set any expectations for herself for the coming Olympics.

“It has been about eight weeks since the last injection, and things have been improving,” said Feng. “For now, I am still taking things slow during training although it does affect me. But hopefully in the long run, things will get better.

“I can’t say for sure now what my hope for the 2016 Olympic Games will be. I have to see how I fare in the upcoming competitions. I don’t know how the condition of my knee will be like in future. It may just stop working tomorrow and I’ll be forced to retire so it’s hard to make any predictions.”