Promising draw boosts hopes for HK pair at worlds
Mixed doubles combination of Wong Chun-ting and Doo Hoi-kem will avoid China before semis
Hong Kong table tennis pair Wong Chun-ting and Doo Hoikem have been handed what their coach called a “decent” mixed doubles draw for the World Table Tennis Championships, which start in South Africa today.
The No 6 seeds will not face a pairing from China, Japan, South Korea or Taiwan before the semi-finals, if they make it that far.
“The draw for them is decent, although those playing in the World Championships are all top players, so there are no easy games,” Hong Kong’s men’s team coach Liu Guodong, who was still at home awaiting a visa to travel to Durban, said.
“Wong and Doo have a chance to challenge in that draw – a topeight spot or even a medal is achievable.”
The Hongkongers will start their campaign in the round of 64 against Italian duo John Oyebode and Gaia Monfardini.
Awaiting them next will be an encounter with the winner of Austria’s Karoline Mischek and Alexander Chen versus Hungarian pair Nandor Ecseki and Dora Madarasz.
Wong and Doo, who took bronze at the 2015 and 2017 World Championships, are seen as the city’s medal hopefuls again in South Africa. They are expected to face Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Manika Batra of India, the world No 5 pair, in the quarter-finals, before a potential face-off with the tournament’s top seeds Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha of China in the last four.
Doo will form half of another duo with Zhu Chengzhu, but in their draw the fast-improving pairing face an uphill battle if they are to bring home Hong Kong’s first women’s doubles medal in more than a decade. Tie Yana and Jiang Huajun won bronze in Rotterdam in 2011.
The world No 9 pair will play Alaa Yehia and Hana Goda of Egypt in the first round, but it is a potential round-of-16 clash with China’s world No 1 pair Wang Manyu and Sun that stands out in the draw.
“Doo and Zhu had been practising well and are confident about their games,” Zhang Rui, the women’s team coach, said. “The draw may not be the best for them, but I hope that they can play to their level and have a breakthrough.”
Hong Kong are sending a nineplayer squad to the championships, which will wind up next weekend. Apart from Wong, who will be the No 26 seed, three other players, Ho Kwan-kit, Lam Siuhang and Ng Pak-nam, will represent the city in the men’s singles. Wong and Ho will also combine for the men’s doubles, as will Lam and Ng.
Doo, seeded 16th in the women’s singles, heads a quintet completed by Zhu, Lee Ho-ching, Ng Wing-lam and Lam Yee-lok. Lee, who is partnering Ho in the mixed doubles, forms another women’s doubles pair for the city alongside Ng.
In total in Durban, 127 men and 126 women are competing in the singles, with matches over the best of seven games. All doubles events start from the round of 64, and are played over the best of five.
Wong and Doo have a chance to challenge in that draw ... a medal is achievable
LIU GUODONG, HK MEN’S COACH