Pang Yew En Koen

Pang Yew En Koen (Chinese: 冯耀恩; born 8 May 2002) is a Singaporean table tennis player. He is the first Singaporean to reach the ITTF Under-18 World Rank No. 1 and the first Singapore-born male to win the men's singles title at the Southeast Asian Games (2019). In March 2023, Pang and his doubles partner Izaac Quek became the first locally-born Singaporean table tennis players to break into the top 100 of the men's singles world rankings.

Early life and education Pang began playing table tennis at the age of five, joining his mother and elder brother in recreational games. Although he was initially involved in gymnastics, he chose to pursue table tennis as he found it more engaging. He dropped gymnastics at age 10 to focus entirely on table tennis. As a Lance Corporal, Pang was recognized for his "resilience, positivity and professionalism" and his "commitment as a soldier and national athlete", which earned him the respect of his fellow soldiers. At the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, he reached the semi-finals in both men's doubles and men's team events.

In September 2019, at age 17, Pang became the first Singaporean to reach No. 1 in the ITTF Under-18 world rankings.

At the 2019 World Junior Table Tennis Championships in Korat, Thailand, Pang and Josh Chua Shao Han won bronze in the Junior Boys' Doubles event, marking Singapore's first medal in this competition.

2023 – Double gold At the 2023 Southeast Asian Games in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Pang won two gold medals in the men's doubles (partnering Izaac Quek) and men's team events.

Senior international career

2021 World Championships While still completing his National Service, Pang competed at the 2021 World Table Tennis Championships in Houston, United States. He upset Brazil's 38th-ranked Gustavo Tsuboi 4–2 to reach the round of 32, where he faced former world No. 1 Timo Boll in a competitive match.

2024 Asian Table Tennis Championships In October 2024, Pang and Izaac Quek finished runners-up in the men's doubles at the Asian Table Tennis Championships, ending Singapore's 11-year medal drought in the event. They became the first local-born pair to win a medal at the Asian Championships.

In their run to the final, they upset Japan's world No. 12 Tomokazu Harimoto and Sora Matsushima 3–2 (7–11, 5–11, 11–5, 11–7, 11–9) in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, they defeated Malaysia's Javen Choong and Wong Qi Shen 3–0 (11–8, 11–3, 11–5) in 20 minutes before losing to South Korea's Lim Jonghoon and Ahn Jaehyun in the final.

2025 Europe Smash At the inaugural Europe Smash in August 2025, Pang and Quek became the first Singaporeans to reach the semi-finals of a Grand Smash event. After receiving a first-round bye, they defeated Portuguese wildcards Marcos Freitas and Tiago Apolonia 3–2 (8–11, 11–8, 11–4, 3–11, 11–6) in the round of 16, then upset China's Liang Jingkun and Wen Ruibo 3–2 (7–11, 11–8, 14–12, 4–11, 11–8) in the quarterfinals. They lost to China's Lin Shidong and Huang Youzheng 3–0 (11–8, 11–5, 11–7) in the semi-finals.

Partnership with Izaac Quek Pang and Quek began their doubles partnership in 2022. In January 2025, they reached a new career-high of world No. 5 in men's doubles.

Commenting on their partnership, Pang stated: "Izaac and I have a lot of chemistry between us, so we understand each other's game really well. But there is still a lot of room for improvement, especially when we get into the rallies."

Playing style Pang is a left-handed attacking player.

Career statistics

Major tournament results Year SEA GamesSingles SEA GamesDoubles SEA GamesMixed Doubles SEA GamesTeam CommonwealthGames Team Asian Champ.Doubles WorldChampionships YouthOlympics 2017 – – – – – – – – 2018 – – – – SF – – QF 2019 W F – – – – – – 2020 – – – – – – – – 2021 – SF W SF – – R32 – 2022 – SF W SF F – – – 2023 – W – W – – – – 2024 – – – – – F – – 2025 – – – – – – – –

Legend: W (Winner/Gold); F (Final/Silver); SF (Semi-final/Bronze); QF (Quarter-final); R32 (Round of 32); – (Did not participate)