Veteran table tennis star Chan Tan-lui said she was ready to quit the sport after partnering youngster Song Ah-sim to an unexpected silver medal win in yesterday's women's doubles. Chan, who has played at representative level for Hong Kong for 10 years, said she doubted she would still be playing in two years at the Sydney Olympics. The talented 29-year-old said she is hoping to find work with the Hong Kong Table Tennis Association and wants to let other, younger players come through the ranks to fill her shoes. 'Ten years is a long time for anybody. In my heart I want to stop playing because I feel it is time to do something new. I'm going to take a break and then decide next year,' Chan said. Chan had initially planned to retire last year, but agreed to one last hurrah at the Asian Games after answering an SOS call from the HKTTA when her long-serving partner Chai Po-wa announced she would not be available. 'When Chai Po-wa said she would not be able to play in Bangkok the association asked me not to retire, because I was experienced and could lead the younger players,' she said after Hong Kong lost 21-8, 21-7 to China's Wang Nan and Li Ju in yesterday's final at the Thammasat University sports complex. 'Although I want to stop playing, it's possible I might do it again depending on what the table tennis association says,' said Chan, a veteran of three Asian Games starting in 1990. If she does decide to call it a day, few people would begrudge Chan the rest. And after yesterday, she would at least be leaving the sport on a high. Although Chan and Song were comprehensively outclassed for the gold medal by China's powerful pairing, they had earlier recorded one of the best Hong Kong results of recent years when they upset South Korea's Asian champions Ryu Ji-hae and Lee Eun-sil in the semi-finals. After dropping the opening set by a slender 21-18 margin, the Hong Kong pair - who only started playing together three months ago - showed tremendous character to battle back and level the match by taking the second 21-17. In the deciding set, Ryu and Lee started aggressively and soon had the Hong Kong pair on the back foot, leading almost from the very first point. When they opened up a 14-8 lead, Chan and Song appeared to be heading for defeat. But a gritty rally from the SAR pair saw them claw their way back into the game and they finally drew level at 15-15. With Chan constantly muttering words of encouragement to Song, the youngster responded by winning some crucial points as the match entered its final phase. Hong Kong took a 20-17 lead and when a return from Lee clipped the top of the net and flew out, Chan and Song were in the final. 'It was a great win for us. Last night we sat down and thought maybe we would have a chance to do well but we knew it would be hard,' Chan said. 'We're very satisfied to win silver because we have only been playing for three months so we don't have that much experience. To beat the Asian champions is really great, especially considering that we were knocked out in the first round,' she added. HKTTA chairman Tony Yue Kwok-leung said the medal successes of other Hong Kong athletes had acted as inspiration to the table tennis squad. 'It's had a knock-on effect, definitely,' Yue said. 'I think when our players see Hong Kong doing well in other sports it gives them a lot of encouragement and they have more confidence. You could see that in Chan and Song today,' he said. See Pages 28 & 29