Hong Kong power to surprise win against Taiwan on first day of Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships
- Wins for mixed doubles pair and Angus Ng get Hong Kong off to a fast start in Dubai
- Ng beats world No 5 Chou Tien-chen in singles battle and credits performances in Thailand and Indonesia for win
Hong Kong delivered a surprise win on the first day of the Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships in Dubai, beating Taiwan 3-2 in their opening group match.
Mixed doubles Reginald Lee Chun-hei and Yoyo Ng Tsz-yau got their side off to a fast start on Tuesday, beating Ye Hong-wei and Lee Chia-hsin 22-15, 21-15 in just 31 minutes.
The Hong Kong No 1 Angus Ng Ka-long, who rose four places to No 14 in the most recent world rankings, saw off world No 5 Chou Tien-chen 21-13, 21-18 in 37 minutes, to put the city’s players 2-0 up.
Ng said despite the gap in world rankings he “did not feel like an underdog” and credited that to his appearance in the final of the Thailand Masters earlier this month, and third-placed finish in the Indonesia Masters in January.
Though upcoming player Saloni Samirbhai Mehta lost the following women’s singles, Hong Kong sealed the tie after Tang Chun-man and Yeung Shing-choi edged out Taiwan duo Lu Ching-yao and Yang Po-han in three games in the men’s doubles.
Taiwan took the dead rubber, leaving Hong Kong second in Group D, with Japan top after their 5-0 hammering of Pakistan.
“It’s a good start for us, but I’m not looking too far ahead, we’d like to get to the quarterfinals first,” Ng said. “It would be a huge confidence booster if we could repeat what we did in 2019.”
Four years ago, Hong Kong won a bronze medal as the hosts after beating Taiwan 3-2 in the quarter-finals before losing to eventual winners China 3-0 in the final four at Queen Elizabeth Stadium.
The championships feature 17 teams, with the top two from each of four groups reaching the quarter-finals, with the top four advancing to the Sudirman Cup in Suzhou, China, in May. That tournament counts towards Paris Olympic qualification points.
China were top of Group A after the first day of matches, with India and Indonesia leading Groups B and C, respectively.
