ITTF World Cup: Hong Kong’s Doo Hoi-kem edges Polish rival before key clash with world No 8
Doo is city’s only hope left in Macau tournament after teammate Lam Siu-hang is knocked out after losing to Alexis Lebrun of France
Hong Kong’s Doo Hoi-kem kept her ITTF World Cup campaign alive with a narrow 3-2 victory over Poland’s Natalia Bajor on Tuesday to set up a high-stakes clash with world No 8 Wang Yidi.
The local No 1 woman became the only remaining hope in the tournament after teammate Lam Siu-hang saw his journey end in the group stage. Hong Kong fielded just one male and one female representative at the week-long tournament, which opened on Monday in Macau.
World No 35 Doo held off the Polish player, ranked 23 places below her, with scores of 10-12, 11-8, 11-5, 6-11, 11-6 on the second afternoon.
The 40-minute victory extended a history of tense, high-stakes encounters between the two 29-year-olds, with Doo noting that their meetings were invariably decided by narrow margins.
“I prepared for [long rallies on every point]; being moved around on the court today was quite tiring,” she said.
Doo’s hard-fought win stood in stark contrast to Wang’s clinical performance a day earlier.