Tennis: Hong Kong’s Coleman Wong knows the Asian Games ‘will be anything but easy’ despite University Games medal success
- Hong Kong’s men’s tennis No 1 continues where he left off in Chengdu, winning first-round singles tie at Victoria Park
- Second seed Wong battles back from 5-2 down in first set to take victory as build-up to Hangzhou Games continues
Winning a medal at the recent World University Games has instilled a lot of confidence in Coleman Wong Chak-lam ahead of the Asian Games, but the Hong Kong tennis No 1 will not get carried away.
Playing his first match at Victoria Park since last year’s International Challenge, the 19-year-old was given a scare in Wednesday’s first-round tie at the ITF M25 tournament.
Second seed Wong battled back from 5-2 down in the first set to beat the South Korean qualifier Kim Young-seok 7-6(3), 7-5 after more than two hours and conquered another Korean player, Jeong Yeong-seok, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the second round.
The result continued Wong’s good form from last month, when he and partner Cody Wong Hong-yi secured a mixed doubles bronze for Hong Kong at the University Games in Chengdu – just the city’s fourth tennis medal since the 2017 Games in Taipei.
“It was great to win a medal for Hong Kong at a multi-sport Games and it also proved we can make it,” Wong said. “I enjoyed the atmosphere of representing Hong Kong in such a setting, and the team morale was really high.
“But we also know the Asian Games will be a higher level with a lot of strong opponents from regional powerhouses such as China, Japan and South Korea. It will be anything but easy.”