Koreans end HK's bid for team bronze

The blue skies of Beijing were gone yesterday, and so were Hong Kong's chances of winning a bronze medal in the men's team event.

At Peking University Gymnasium, Hong Kong lost to South Korea 3-1 in the second round of the bronze-medal play-off.

The Koreans will now take on Austria for a medal following the latter's surprising 3-1 win over Japan. 'We had every chance of beating the Koreans when we were 2-0 up in matches,' said coach Chan Kong-wah.

'But we failed to keep the momentum and lost.

'It was a disappointing result as we have prepared for the competition for a long period and came here with the target of securing a medal.

'The players really wanted to win something here in Beijing, as both Ko Lai-chak and Li Ching are over 30 years old now and are unlikely to have another Olympic campaign,' added the coach.

'And we thought we had better hopes in the team event than the singles, which was why they might have felt they were playing under great pressure.

'The players have suffered from ups and downs throughout the competition. Some played well in one match, but faded in the next.'

With hopes in both team events ended, Hong Kong are now banking on the singles events, which start their preliminary rounds today, to get a medal.