Agony for HK's Doo Hoi-kem as she misses out on Youth Olympics gold in table tennis
Teenager has to fight back the tears, but coach insists defeat will prove a valuable learning experience
Hong Kong table tennis player Doo Hoi-kem was heartbroken to just miss out on Youth Olympic Games gold on Wednesday, but she and her coach insist silver is the first step towards a bright future.
In the women’s singles final, top-seed Doo went 0-2 down after dropping the first two games 6-11, 5-11, but fought back against second-seed Liu Gaoyang from the mainland, winning the third 11-6.
But Liu quenched hopes of a comeback in Nanjing by taking the following two, 11-1 and 11-3 to seal the match 4-1 in 32 minutes. It was the fourth silver medal for Hong Kong at the Games.
The 17-year-old, fighting back tears, said: “I feel OK with how I performed in this tournament, but not this match.
“I did not have adequate confidence today. Maybe I was thinking too much about this battle with Liu.
“It is not about winning or defeat, I am disappointed that I didn’t do well today.”
But Doo’s coach Zhang Rui was satisfied with her result and that of another Hong Kong player Hung Ka-tak, who lost 3-4 to mainlander Fan Zhendong in the men’s singles quarter-final.
She carried out the game plan and chose the right strategy today, but Liu played too well, while Doo couldn’t find the right rhythm to control the situation