Lin Gaoyuan hoping for 2020 Olympics spot after taking two titles at Hong Kong Open
- The 24-year-old from Shenzhen defeats Japanese young gun Tomokazu Harimoto 4-2 in the men’s singles final
- China dominates the tournament by winning four out of five titles at the Queen Elizabeth Stadium
China’s Lin Gaoyuan made his Olympic intentions known when he won two titles at the Hang Seng Hong Kong Open at Queen Elizabeth Stadium on Sunday.
In a tournament China dominated by winning four out of five titles, Lin took out both the men’s doubles – with Liang Jingkun — before going to complete his double by beating Japan’s upstart Tomokazu Harimoto 4-2 in the men’s singles final.
Lin and Liang had earlier defeated South Korea’s Jang Woo-jin and Lim Jong-hoon 3-1 and his singles victory over the 15-year-old Japanese star was equally impressive as he stated his intensions of reaching the Tokyo Olympics next year.
“In Team China, Ma Long is no doubt the big brother of the squad as the reigning Olympic and world champion but the other two spots are quite open,” said Lin, the world number two. “For any athlete, results always count. Of course, I am very glad to have won my first singles title since the Austria Open in 2017 and that will boost my confidence for the future. I always think the door is still open for the Tokyo Olympic Games and if I don’t consider there is hope for myself, I would have quit as there is no point staying and playing.”
Both the men’s and women’s teams can send three players to the Tokyo Olympic Games while two of them will also feature in the singles event.
While Ma, who won his third back-to-back world championship title in April and a record 28 singles title at the China Open last week, would be the logical choice, Lin faces a strong challenge from Fan Zhendong, the world number one, Xu Xin, a member of the 2016 Olympic champion team and Liang Jingkun for the two other spots.
