World Team Table Tennis Championships: Hong Kong’s women narrowly avoid Romania upset to keep medal hopes alive
- City’s men’s squad, who last won a medal 14 years ago, sweep aside Egypt 3-0 on Wednesday to reach quarter-finals
- But world No 3 women go to a dramatic decider against Romania, with Zhu Chengzhu winning in five games to save the day
Hong Kong’s men moved one step closer to a long-awaited medal after easing past Egypt 3-0 in the last 16 of the World Team Table Tennis Championships in Chengdu on Wednesday – but it was another story for the women, who needed a dramatic decider to seal their place in the quarter-finals.
Having blown a 2-0 lead, the women’s squad eventually beat Romania 3-2, with world No 93 Zhu Chengzhu doing everything in her power to save the team from suffering a huge upset.
The 25-year-old Zhu beat No 37 Elizabeta Samara 6-11, 13-11, 4-11, 11-7, 11-9 in the fifth match to keep the team’s medal hopes alive.
Having finished third at the 2018 Worlds, Hong Kong’s women will meet Germany in the last eight in China, after the latter defeated Puerto Rico 3-1. Hong Kong triumphed by the same scoreline against Germany to win their Olympic bronze in Tokyo.
With no bronze medal matches in Chengdu, the teams who progress to the semi-finals will all be assured of a medal.
The world No 3 women’s team did not expect such a thrilling tie against Romania, especially after Zhu and Olympic team bronze medallist Doo Hoi-kem won the first two matches for Hong Kong.
But playing with nothing to lose, Romania’s Adina Diaconu and Bernadette Szocs levelled the overall score by beating Lee Ho-ching 3-1 and Doo 3-1, respectively, leaving Zhu to play the decider again after her heroics in the group match against France.
It was all in stark contrast to last summer in Tokyo, when Hong Kong beat Romania 3-1 in the quarter-finals of the women’s team event.
The team had also cruised into the knockout rounds after winning all of their group games.
“Zhu has performed incredibly well from the beginning of the championships, and I know that if she can maintain her unexpected performance, it will really help the team,” head coach Chan Kong-wah said.
It was much smoother sailing for Hong Kong’s men on Wednesday. Coming into the knockout stage as runners-up in their group, the world No 12-ranked team got off to a flying start against 15th-ranked Egypt.
Ng Pak-nam defeated Mohamed EI-Beiali 11-3, 11-7, 11-8, and Wong Chun-ting saw off Youssef Abdel-Aziz 11-5, 12-10, 11-9 to give the city a comfortable lead.
Lam Siu-hang then edged Shady Magdy in a five-game thriller to end the tie, winning 11-13, 11-4, 11-3, 8-11, 11-7.
“I can see our boys’ performances are improving match after match. They played well and their morale is increasing too,” coach Chan said. “I hope they continue to surprise us.”
The men’s squad last won a medal 14 years ago in Guangzhou, led by Li Ching and Ko Lai-chak, the 2004 Olympic silver medallists in men’s doubles. They were knocked out in the last 16 at the most recent edition of the tournament, in Sweden in 2018.
“To get into the medal round, we need three of them to fight their hardest,” Chan added. “They can’t rely on Ting [ranked 27 in the world], who has already taken on the burden of leading the team.”
Hong Kong’s men will face South Korea in the quarter-finals, after the latter defeated Poland 3-0. They will need to improve on a poor head-to-head record against their next opponents, who finished fourth in the team event at the Tokyo Olympics.
“We are underdogs, but what we can do is play with a fighting mentality, because we have rarely beaten South Korea in recent years,” said Chan – though the coach did acknowledge the draw favoured his side, who avoided facing heavyweights China and Japan.
