Veteran Hong Kong female player Chan Tan-lui will lend her vast experience to the Hong Kong team when she competes in a series of tournaments over the next few weeks - the first time she will compete in almost a year. Chan earlier this year completed her three-year sports management degree at the University of Canberra and has returned to full-time training. She will compete in this month's Australian Open in Melbourne and the Asian Championships in Osaka at the end of September. The 29-year-old former bronze medallist at the World Championships is currently in training in Guangzhou, where she hopes to whip herself back in shape for the Melbourne tournament. The Hong Kong team will stay in Guangzhou until August 20 before fine tuning their training for the Australian event from August 27-30. The Asian Championships will be held from September 27 to October 4. 'She has finished her course and is currently working part-time with the Sports Development Board. She is eager to become a full-time player again and wants to lend her experience to the Hong Kong squad, who will most likely field an inexperienced team,' said a Hong Kong Table Tennis official. Chan is the only experienced Hong Kong team member after former Hong Kong champion Chan Po-wa decided to take time off because she is pregnant. Local table tennis officials have lowered their expectations for the Osaka event, which is expected to be dominated by China in both the men's and women's competitions.
