HK teenager’s New York fairy tale comes to end but earns praise of top rivals
Local teenager Chan Sin-yuk continued to make a name for herself in New York, stunning world No 36 Zeina Mickawy and testing third seed Salma Hany before her run ended at the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions.
Chan at the weekend leapt into the world’s top 50 by winning the Challenger event that served as a qualifier for the tournament, and she carried that form into her opener in the gold-level event.
She saved multiple match balls against Mickawy, of Egypt, as she edged a five-game thriller.
The 19-year-old Hongkonger took the opening game 13-11 on a tiebreak, but was on the other end of a tiebreak in the third, losing it 12-10 to find herself 2-1 behind. The fourth game was an epic in itself, as Chan saved seven match balls to stay in the contest – six of them in the tiebreak, which she eventually won 21-19 after 20 minutes of action.
Chan took the decider 11-5 to advance to face another Egyptian, Hany, in the second round. And she again came out firing, putting Hany under all kinds of pressure and coming close to winning the first game when leading 10-7.
Hany had to show her class by winning the next five points to steal it, before coming under pressure again in the third game, which Chan won 11-9 to give herself a lifeline.
The Egyptian won the fourth by the same margin to progress 3-1, but she was full of praise for her young opponent.“She’s done amazing this week – she’s so young and came through the Challenger event then had a really good win in the first round, so congrats to her,” Hany said.
[Chan Sin-yuk] has done amazing this week ... then had a really good win in the first round
SALMA HANY, THIRD SEED
Chan, who is studying at Columbia University in New York, reached a career-high world ranking of 43 thanks to her weekend victory in the Challenger, and was buoyed by her first-round defeat of Mickawy.
“I was just thinking about getting this game [the marathon fourth], and all the cheering was making me want to fight more,” she said.
Hong Kong No 1 Ho Tze-lok suffered an early exit.