Games boost for HK's Yip as she chases top-16 place
Hong Kong ace Yip Pui-yin moved closer to being seeded at the London Olympics after thrashing world No 9 Cheng Shao-chieh of Taiwan 21-14, 21-16 in the Uber Cup Asia zone preliminaries in Macau yesterday.
Although Hong Kong eventually lost the quarter-final tie 3-1 - and with it the chance of playing in the Uber Cup finals in May - Yip put on one of her best performances in recent years against a top-10 player.
'I can't remember when I last beat a top-10 player,' said Yip (pictured), whose ranking has dropped from eighth early last year to 20th when the latest rankings were released yesterday. 'It brings back some good memories from when I used to upset players like Xie Xingfang and Zhang Ning. I hope this proves to be a good start in this Olympic year.'
Coach Tim He Yiming was delighted to see Yip return to her best form and said a top-16 ranking was not out of the question. Only the top 16 players will be seeded at the Olympics, which would provide easier opponents in the opening rounds.
'She has been struggling with her form, mainly because she has given herself too much pressure as the top player on our team,' He said.
Yip used to be the No 3 in the Hong Kong team behind Wang Chen, who retired in 2010, and Zhou Mi, who was suspended in August 2010 after violating doping rules.
'It is always difficult to be the leading player. But now she seems to have regained her confidence after two crucial wins in Macau,' the coach said. 'If she can continue this kind of form, she can win a place as a seeded player at the Olympics.'
In the group match against Japan on Wednesday, Yip beat world No 15 Sayaka Sato in straight games to give Hong Kong their only win in the best-of-five tie and repeated the same success over Cheng yesterday.
Against Taiwan, coach He made a bold move by promoting doubles player Tse Ying-suet to the third singles match and the gamble almost paid off.
After Chan Tze-ka lost in the second singles to Tai Tzu-ying 21-14, 21-14, Tse put up a strong fight against Pai Hsiao-ma before losing 21-19, 21-18. Wang Pei-rong and Hsieh Pei-chen sealed the victory for Taiwan in the doubles.
Despite failing to make it to the Uber Cup finals, coach He was pleased with the team's effort. 'We won a bronze medal in the Uber Cup finals in 2002 ... But I am proud of our new generation of players as they are all locally trained.'
