Youngster Mehta crowned Hong Kong champion but budding career severely hit by pandemic
- 20-year-old sets sights on reaching next year’s Hangzhou Asian Games
- But Covid-19 restrictions have stopped her from playing tournaments for two years before returning to the courts this year
Newly crowned Hong Kong champion Saloni Mehta has her sights set on qualifying for the Asian Games in Hangzhou next year, but said the city’s approach to Covid-19 had left her at a disadvantage.
The 20-year-old scored her biggest win over the weekend when she beat fellow Hong Kong teammate Happy Lo Sin-yan in two games 21-16, 21-18 in the women’s singles final, which was held behind closed doors at the Hong Kong Sports Institute.
Mehta’s game was one of only two to go ahead after a Covid-19 outbreak among athletes left numerous others unable to take place. In the men’s singles, Chan Yin-chak beat world No. 14 Lee Cheuk-yiu in three sets, 21-10, 11-21, 21-16, to win the title for the first time.
Born in India, but raised in Hong Kong, Mehta first represented the city in junior competitions five years ago, but found her budding senior career severely hampered by the pandemic
“I was still a junior player before the pandemic and seldom played in the senior competitions,” said Mehta, who now ranks 488 in the world. “Throughout 2020 after I became a senior, I only played once in the annual Hong Kong Championships because of the lockdown and I finished second.