Cheung Yuk has emerged as the player to lead the Hong Kong men's team challenge at next month's East Asian Games after impressing at the Asian Championships.
The 28-year-old steered Hong Kong to a team bronze and captured a doubles bronze with partner Li Ching in Lucknow.
Ranked 15th in the world and the highest among his teammates, Cheung was also the only Hong Kong player who made it into the singles quarter-finals before losing to Zhang Yike of China 4-1.
'He has shown massive improvement over the last couple of months, both mentally and tactically,' said coach Chan Kong-wah. 'In Lucknow, he won the matches he was supposed to win and was able to mount challenges to players who are better than him.
'He showed he could stand the pressure to perform at the highest level when he secured two points against South Korea in the team competition. In the past, he would have cracked in such a must-win situation, but he did not this time. He has matured.'
Chan said the East Asian Games would be another major challenge for Cheung as table tennis was making its debut in the fifth version of the Games and the home crowd would expect strong performances.