World Team Table Tennis Championships: Wong Chun-ting is man for a crisis as Hong Kong beat Iran
- The men are victorious again in Chengdu, but require a comeback to achieve it
- Upset is avoided as Wong, playing for a second time, comes through battle with outsider Nima Alamian
Hong Kong’s men made it two wins from two in the World Team Table Tennis Championships in Chengdu on Saturday.
They had to dig deep, though, coming from 2-1 behind to see off Iran 3-2 and keep alive their hopes of reaching the knockout stage.
Just as he did in Hong Kong’s victory over Hungary on Friday night, star player Wong Chun-ting earned two of the three points. He remains unbeaten.
It was tight, however, for world No 27 Wong against Nima Alamian, ranked 127 places below him at 154. He prevailed 3-2 to level the team scores before Ng Pak-nam clinched it for Hong Kong by beating Amir Hossein Hodaei 3-1.
Earlier, Wong had beaten Hodaei 3-0 between Ng and Lam Siu-hang being whitewashed by Alamian and Noshad Alamiyan respectively.
“Ting’s position puts him under a lot of pressure, but he was able to withstand it,” Hong Kong head coach Chan Kong-wah said. “[The win] shows that the boys are much more mature after the Tokyo Olympics. Our players have great team spirit and are good at fighting back from behind.”
Wong, 31, had played a similarly significant role against Hungary, winning two singles matches as Hong Kong won 3-1.
Hong Kong’s best previous finish with Wong in the team was fifth, in Malaysia in 2016. They were ninth last time, in Sweden four years ago.
The men’s competition features 32 teams in seven groups. The top two in each group will advance to the last 16, along with the two best third-placed teams.
The women’s has 28 teams in six groups, with two going through from each, plus the four best third-placed teams.
Represented by the Tokyo Olympic bronze medallists Doo Hoi-kem and Lee Ho-ching, as well as debutant Zhu Chengzhu, they won their pool opener against Italy on Friday.
The play France in their second group match on Sunday, while the men have a rest day before facing Japan – ranked No 2 to Hong Kong’s 12 – on Monday.
