HONGKONG'S hopes of glory at the inaugural East Asian Games in Shanghai next month took a nose-dive with China revealing they will probably send their strongest team. China had earlier indicated they would be sending second-string shuttlers, with their top players reserved for the World Championships to be held in England the week after the Games. Hongkong head national coach Diana Lo Leung Bik-luen, however, said: ''The latest I've heard is that the Chinese have called up Liu Jun, who was the 1992 All-England champion. ''They are likely to draft all their other leading players, too, because they want a clean sweep of the seven badminton gold medals.'' Lo reckons the territory's best medal hopes rest on the men's team competition, although Chan Siu-kwong and Chung Hoi-yuk could also do well in the mixed doubles. Members of the Hongkong men's team are Chan Kin-ngai, Wong Wai-lap, Chan Siu-kwong, Ng Pak-kum, Ng Liang-hua and Chow Kin-man. Chan Kin-ngai and Wong both reached the last 16 at last year's Barcelona Olympic Games. ''I think we have an outside chance of a bronze medal in the men's team event,'' said Lo, adding: ''The Chinese and Koreans should fight it out for the gold and we can expect to be battling with Taiwan and Japan for the bronze. ''But I'm afraid we're a bit out of depth in the women's events as we have a very young team lacking in experience.'' The Hongkong women's squad is Wong Chun-fun, Chung Hoi-yuk, Cheng Yin-sat, Chan Oi-ni, Tung Chau-man and Ngan Fai. Lo, however, is hopeful Chan Siu-kwong and Chung can do well in the mixed doubles event. The two have been playing together for almost three years and they have proven themselves at international level by reaching the final at several Grand Prix events, and also the Asian Championships last year. Lo said: ''The South Koreans are strong in mixed doubles but our chances will depend on how good the Chinese are. They are not world beaters in mixed doubles but they have trained up six new combinations for this event.''
