Badminton World Championships: Hong Kong’s hopes over as Angus Ng blows match point, while Japan’s Kodai Naraoka continues meteoric rise
- Ng has match point to reach quarter-finals, but is unable to take it and his old rival Shi Yuqi of China capitalises
- Lee Cheuk-yiu crumbles against fourth seed Naraoka, while all of Hong Kong’s doubles pairs are also beaten
Hong Kong’s players fell one by one at the badminton World Championships, with the city’s last remaining representatives exiting in the round of 16.
In a men’s singles, Angus Ng Ka-long had a chance to prolong his stay at the championships in Copenhagen, only to squander a match point against long-time rival Shi Yuqi of China.
Having lost the first set by a gaping 21-7 margin, the 29-year-old fought back in the second set, maintaining a lead from the very first point until he sealed it 21-14.
In the deciding set, Ng and eighth seed Shi exchanged the lead until the mainland Chinese player built a 15-8 advantage. Ng managed to close the gap and then reached match point, before Shi took three consecutive points to claim the victory.
Shi’s next opponent is one of the fastest improving players on the tour: Kodai Naraoka of Japan, whose world ranking jumped from 31st to No 4 in only a year.
Hong Kong’s Lee Cheuk-yiu got taste of the 22-year-old Naraoka’s skills in their round-of-16 match, losing 21-11, 21-4 in a matter of 36 minutes. In the second set, Naraoka led 14-0 before the Hongkonger finally managed to make an appearance on the scoreboard.
In the women’s doubles, unseeded Yeung Nga-ting and Yeung Pui-lam had been on a high after an upset in the second round, in which they had ousted Bulgarian sisters Gabriela and Stefani Stoeva, the 13th seeds.
They lost their momentum, however, as they were bested by third seeds Kim So-yeong and Kong Hee-yong of South Korea. The pair fought back from 13-2 down in the first and closed the gap before ultimately losing 21-19. In the second, the Koreans controlled the court and cruised to a victory by taking it 21-11.
Hong Kong’s two mixed doubles pairs suffered the same fate. Tang Chun-man and Tse Ying-suet along with Reginald Lee Chun-hei and Ng Tsz-yau – both pairs unseeded – were eliminated by seeded pairs in the second round.
All of the Hong Kong players will take a one-week break before featuring in the China Open in Changzhou, Jiangsu, from September 5 to 10, for a chance at one of the highest winning purses of the season, at US$1.25 million.
The team then play in the Victor Hong Kong Open the following week at the Coliseum in Hung Hom, before departing for Hangzhou, China for the Asian Games.
