Hong Kong Open: Tang Chun-man and Tse Ying-suet thrill home crowd, Lee Chia-hao’s brave run ends, Carolina Marin loses again
- Home mixed doubles pair come from behind to beat second seeds from France and reach the semi-finals, to delight of Coliseum
- Lee Chia-hao of Taiwan had upset Viktor Axelsen and Lee Zii Jia, but is unable to overcome Jonatan Christie
Tang Chun-man and Tse Ying-suet stormed into the mixed doubles semi-finals at the Victor Hong Kong Open with a thrilling 2-1 victory over second seeds Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue of France on Friday.
After losing a narrow first game 21-19 at Hong Kong Coliseum in Hung Hom, the home favourites responded fiercely, winning the next two 21-9 and 21-11.
Fans chanted “we are Hong Kong” and “Hong Kong add oil” throughout the 65-minute battle.
“We suffered a slow start, but we were well prepared for the match,” Tang said. “Even when we lost the first game, we were not shaken, and believed we could still make it.
“We have lost to them twice before, including in the Singapore Open in June. That meant that mentally we put ourselves as underdogs, which seemed to work well.”
Having reached the last four of their home tournament for a second time, the pair will take on Goh Soon Huat and Shevon Lai of Malaysia for a spot in the final.
Tse said the loud support gave them extra impetus.
“The chanting was loud and clear, giving us more power when needed,” she said. “We were a bit tired after also playing three games in our first two matches, but we were able to hang in there.”
In the women’s singles, there was an unexpected quarter-final exit for Carolina Marin, the three-time world champion and Rio Olympic gold medallist. The third seed from Spain was unable to show any glimpse of the form that put her on top of the world as she lost 21-9, 21-18 to Gregoria Tunjung of Indonesia.
“I am disappointed,” said Marin, who also lost in the quarter-finals at the China Open last week. “I think I did not play well the whole week.”
Marin reached her fourth world final in Copenhagen last month but was denied another title by An Se-young of South Korea.
“It’s getting tough to play so many tournaments [around] the world,” she said. “Even after the World Championships, I couldn’t have a break.”
Top seed Akane Yamaguchi of Japan had few problems in beating Zhang Beiwen of the United States 21-13, 21-15.
