High-flying Tie Yana departs for Kunshan tomorrow with a third consecutive Pro Tour title firmly in her sights.
Tie, the winner of the Korea Open and the Taiwan Open in the past two weeks, will spearhead a strong Hong Kong contingent at the Volkswagen China Open in Kunshan, Jiangsu, starting on Thursday. Joining Tie will be women's teammates Lin Ling, Lau Sui-fei and Jiang Huajun and the two top male players, doubles pair Ko Lai-chak and Li Ching.
Those players missed the last two Pro Tour events because they were busy competing in the China Super League.
China's top paddlers, including Wang Liqin and Zhang Yining, the respective men's and women's number ones, also opted out of the Pro Tour events and Tie took advantage.
Tie, who plays for a Shanghai club in the China Super League's second division, got the OK to play in Korea and Taiwan, winning both tournaments in style.
The two victories earned Tie, ranked sixth in the world, US$22,800 in prize money.