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Tokyo Olympics: ‘miracle’ happens for new Hong Kong heroine Minnie Soo as Games medal count rises to five
- Soo produces two lifetime best performances to lead women’s table tennis team to historic bronze against Germany
- Kata star Grace Lau then adds another bronze medal to tally, but cyclist Sarah Lee cannot follow suit in the keirin
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Jonathan Whitein Tokyo
Hong Kong basked in the glow of more medals at the Tokyo Olympics on Thursday, cementing these Games as the city’s greatest ever. And a new heroine emerged in table tennis player Minnie Soo Wai-yam, who said “miracles do happen”.
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Two bronze medals were won in table tennis and the debut sport of karate to move Hong Kong on to an unprecedented five, following Edgar Cheung Ka-long’s fencing gold and swimmer Siobhan Haughey’s two silvers in the pool.
There were high hopes for cyclist Sarah Lee Wai-sze to add another, but a disastrous semi-final for the veteran ended hopes of a keirin repeat from London 2012.
However, Lee is still chasing a sixth medal for Team Hong Kong in the sprint race this weekend, which has fast become her pet event in the years since her London bronze medal.
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Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor congratulated the medal winners, saying she was “moved by the great perseverance and tenacity” displayed by the table tennis team and the Lau’s “marvellous performance of talent with great strength, speed and beauty”.
Never before has Hong Kong won two medals on the same day, with this haul ensuring that Tokyo 2020 has yielded more medals for the delegation than all of the previous Olympics combined – and all have been made in Hong Kong.
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