HONGKONG have been handed the ideal draw in their bid to reach the final stages of the women's team title event at next month's World Championships in Gothenburg in Sweden.
The territory, the Asian women's team champions, managed to avoid the powerful Chinese and North Korean squads in the draw for the two eight-team, round-robin groups.
The only serious threat to Hongkong in Group B looks set to come from the traditionally strong South Koreans, but with three teams from each group progressing to the final stages the territory have every reason to be confident.
They will also face France, Russia, Japan, England, Finland and Slovakia in the round robin.
The draw also gives Hongkong a chance to turn the tables on France, who knocked out the territory in the last World Championships in Chiba, Japan, two years ago.
Tony Yue, chairman of the Hongkong Table Tennis Association, said: ''We have a good chance of reaching the final stages because we only have to finish third in our group to get through.