Hong Kong mixed doubles pair Tang and Tse face tough task but are guaranteed a medal at world badminton championships
Stylish pair from Sports Institute must play harder in Saturday’s semi-finals to have any chance of toppling top Chinese duo who will have partisan crowd behind them
Hong Kong’s mixed doubles pair Tang Chun-man and Tse Ying-suet are one step away from reaching the title match at the world championships after scoring an upset quarter-final victory in Nanjing on Friday – but they have a big task ahead of them.
Tang and Tse appear to be reaching their peak in the tournament as they matched another Hong Kong pair’s march last year when Lee Chun-hei and Chau Hoi-wah reached the last four. Lee and Chau had to retire during their second round match in this year’s event in Nanjing after Lee suffered an ankle injury.
But Tang and Tse seem to be going exceptionally well even though they needed three games before disposing of Malaysia’s Chang Peng-soon and Goh Liu-ying, the silver medallist at the Rio Olympics. Tang and Tse won 21-12, 11-21, 21-10 and coach Tim He Yiming praised his charges for turning out a solid performance despite having to battle with a slower shuttlecock probably due to condensation in the stadium.
“The shuttlecock travels very slowly in the venue and it’s hard to control it on both sides of the court,” said the coach. “But our pair did exceptionally well in their attack and they were consistent. Chun-man slowed down a bit in the second game but he recovered quickly to help register victory in the third game.”
