After Hong Kong stumbled at the final 2024 Asia Cup qualifying hurdle, Kary Chan Ka-ying spent five navel-gazing days hiding from the outside world.
“I can still remember the pain in my heart … I kept asking myself, ‘what if I’d done something differently?’” Chan said.
Two years later and rather than being cooped up indoors, Chan is with her teammates preparing for a Women’s Twenty20 Asia Cup in Dubai where Hong Kong have the redoubtable task of facing Thailand, Pakistan and mighty India.
Chan was among the players who spent a short time in hospital after illness swept through the camp during their ongoing preparation trip to Sri Lanka, but it would take more than a bout of bellyache to dampen enthusiasm over the city team’s return to the tournament after 14 years away.
In 2012, proficient all-rounder Chan was a wide-eyed 15-year-old who “wasn’t even given a chance to run water onto the field … I sat next to the coach to learn”.
“From then, playing in the Asia Cup became one of my life dreams,” she said.