Hong Kong’s men and women delivered at the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships in London as both got past the first knockout rounds on Monday.
In what head coach Li Ching described as an “uneasy but normal” draw for the city’s teams, the men’s team knocked out fellow group winners North Korea 3-0 while the women were unconvincing in their 3-2 win over Wales.
Doo Hoi-kem’s 3-1 win over Danielle Kelly gave Hong Kong a perfect start but teenager Su Tsz-tung lost by the same scoreline in her match against Anna Hursey. Ng Wing-lam then survived a roller-coaster ride with a hard-fought 3-2 win over Charlotte Carey to give Hong Kong the edge.
Doo, however, then suffered a surprising 3-0 defeat at Hursey, and it was the 17-year-old debutant Su who came to the rescue, producing a solid 3-0 win over Kelly to finish off the tie.
Doo and her counterparts will next face the winner between Puerto Rico and Chinese Taipei on Wednesday, with potential opponents Germany and North Korea awaiting in the quarter-final.
“Let’s just say the draw is normal, but it’s one match at a time for us, and we’re not looking too far ahead,” Li said.