Fans cheering for Team Singapore at the Olympics share their experiences with Melissa Sim.

WHEN the table tennis finals between Singapore and China ended, Ms Angelina Ong, cried.

But it was not because "Singapore lost, but because Singapore won a silver medal at the Olympics", said the 32-year-old PR consultant

And when it was time for the Singapore team to receive their medals, Ms Ong and her friends found themselves standing on the chairs waving the Singapore flag. The semi-finals were no different.

Ms Angelina Ong (left) and Ms Jacqueline Wang showing their support for Team Singapore at the Beijing Olympics.

Student Ammily Lim, 22, spent three hours cheering for the table tennis team on Friday, when they beat South Korea 3-2, guaranteeing Singapore’s second medal of all time.

"When they lost the fourth game, we were all quite nervous," she recalled.

"We thought we might lose the chance at a medal again."

Into the fifth game, the atmosphere was tense.

"But we started gaining more confidence when Tianwei started winning," she said.

Even the China locals sitting next to her started cheering for Singapore.

"That was the most exciting game I’ve watched here," said Ms Lim.

While only a select few have caught the games live other Singaporeans living in China have rallied around team Singapore, showing their support in other ways.

Human relations executive Esther Quek, 39, even started video-taping her television screen, when team Singapore appeared during the opening ceremony. "We were also hoping to see MM Lee, but we were very disappointed, the camera did not pan to him,"she said.

The other exciting moment for Singaporeans was catching Tao Li in the 100m butterfly finals.

Ms Shirley Sim, 29, manager of Olio restaurant in China Central Mall, said many Singaporeans frequent her outlet. And when Tao Li's final came on television, everyone stopped working and eating, just to watch her.

But watching the action on the television is nothing like the real thing.

Ms Ong, who was lucky enough to get tickets for the opening ceremony on Aug 8, said that when the Singapore contingent walked into the Bird's Nest Stadium, she started jumping up and down and waving everything in her goodie bag.

"We really needed to go to the toilet, but we were afraid we would miss the Singapore contingent," she said.

And when the team appeared?

"We told everyone around us that was our country!" said the Singaporean who has spent six years working in China.

Ms Ong even started describing the significance of the Singapore flag to the Brazilian stranger sitting next to her.

"I just wanted to share with any body who cared to listen."

"We saved the loudest cheer for Singapore," said Ms Ong.