National Games: Hong Kong’s pairs table tennis medal hopes over, Chen Meng storms to win
Mixed-doubles duo Doo Hoi-kem and Wong Chun-ting lose in National Games quarter-finals, nervous 20-year-old Baldwin Chan exits men’s singles
The No 1 seeds Doo Hoi-kem and Wong Chun-ting twice suffered the losing feeling on their way to crashing out of the National Games mixed-doubles quarter-finals in Macau on Tuesday.
Dubbed Hong Kong’s “only medal hope” by head coach Li Ching, Doo and Wong lost 4-1 to the Liaoning pair of Xu Haidong and Chen Xingtong.
An ecstatic Xu collapsed to his back following a wayward Wong backhand that put the mainlanders 3-1 in front, after all four players mistakenly believed they were playing first to three.
Doo and Wong could not capitalise on their reprieve, and Xu was soon reprising his celebration after Liaoning clinched victory on their third match point.
“We all thought we were playing best of five, so we shook hands and thought we were finished, but the umpire said not yet,” Doo said.
Although the Hong Kong duo won a tight first game 12-10, Doo felt their opponents “had strong control” from the beginning.