Double hopes
HONG KONG'S BEST chance of success at the World Champion-ships lies with the mixed doubles pairing of Cheung Yuk and Tie Yana - gold medal winners ahead of the usually dominant mainland team at last year's Asian Games in South Korea.
It appears to be a tough draw for the pair, but if all goes well, they will clash with mainland duo Wang Nan (women's world number two in singles) and Ma Lin (men's number two) in the quarter-finals later this week.
But before that they must progress from the opening rounds, and then possibly overcome strong South Korean opponents in the last 16.
After poor recent results, the mainlanders have decided to shuffle their top players and pair them with new partners.
As a result, there will be no defending world champions in women's doubles or mixed doubles. But Wang Liqin and Yan Sen will defend their men's title.
China was shocked when it failed to win gold in any of the three doubles events at the Asian Games last year.
Read about the Hong Kong team's progress in tomorrow's Young Post.
Star sports has coverage of the event from 10pm tomorrow night.
