Cooke falls in the final

TABLE TENNIS

Alan Cooke's hopes of winning back the Commonwealth title he won in Cardiff in 1989 were narrowly frustrated when he was beaten in four games in the final in Singapore yesterday.

Cooke, from Derbyshire, had to make do with the silver medal for the second successive year. He had displayed fine form to bring down the second- seeded former world semi-finalist, Lo Chuen Tsung, in the semi-finals in the morning, but then lost to Lo's compatriot from Hong Kong, the 33- year-old Chan Kong Wah.

Chan, China-born and resident in Germany for the past eight years, attacked brilliantly with topspin on the forehand and his 16-21, 21-11, 21-19, 21-16 victory followed a four-game semi-final success in the morning against the top-seeded English national champion, Carl Prean, a German Bundesliga club colleague at Mulheim. Prean's consolation was to win the men's doubles with Andrew Eden.