Badminton World Tour Finals: Hong Kong’s Tang and Tse in unprecedented early exit as shoulder curse strikes again
- Tang Chun-man suffers shoulder injury – an issue that previously struck partner Tse Ying-suet – as they miss out on knockout stages
- It is the first time the Hong Kong pair have failed to reach the knockout stages
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Hong Kong badminton duo Tang Chun-man and Tse Ying-suet missed out on the knockout stages of the BWF World Tour Finals in Hangzhou after losing their second match in as many days on Thursday.
The world No 10 mixed doubles pair took the first game off reigning world champions Seo Seung-jae and Chae Yu-jung, but the South Koreans bounced back to take the next two games, and the match 17-21, 21-13, 21-18 in 63 minutes.
Tang, 28, had injured his right shoulder in the opening loss to world No 1 Chinese pair Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Expo Centre on Wednesday.
Despite an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) check-up at the hospital on match day morning revealing no bones and muscle damage and clearing him to play, the Hongkonger has to consume antibiotics and Tang admitted he could not lift his right hand much with his shoulder wrapped up in bandages.
The mishap meant the pair have again been foiled by shoulder trouble, with Tse, too, having previously suffered a similar injury.
Tang and Tse were set to face another South Korean pair, Kim Won-ho and Jeong Na-eun, in a mere consolation match given that neither duo could reach the semi-finals having lost their first two matches.
This year’s tournament represents the first time the Hong Kong pair have failed to reach the knockout stages, after finishing as runners-up at the BWF Super Series Finals in 2017 and also reaching the semi-finals at the revamped event in Bali four years later.
Meanwhile, Olympic champion Chan Yufei of China and three-time world champion Carolina Marin of Spain both secured their spots in the women’s singles semi-finals after winning their first two group matches in Hangzhou.
