ANDREW Shum Siu-chung missed an opportunity to take centre stage among the world's best in the Hong Kong Open yesterday when he cracked on the threshold of victory and lost in five games to Egypt's Gamal El Amir.
Shum, who was given a wild card for the main draw of the Cathay Pacific/Unisys-sponsored event, was originally drawn against Chris Dittmar but the Australian world number one withdrew because of a knee injury.
It looked as if Shum could take advantage of his good fortune and become the first local player to advance in the prestigious tournament when he took a 2-1 lead and had the Egyptian at his mercy, up 10-9 in the fourth game.
But his nerves overcame him with victory in sight and his game fell apart, allowing El Amir to come back for a 15-10, 12-15, 10-15, 15-11, 15-5 triumph.
''I tensed up in the fourth game when I came so close to winning because I wanted very much to win before the home crowd,'' said a disappointed Shum.
''I thought I had a good chance when Dittmar withdrew because there is very little between me and El Amir, who is ranked only six places above me at 71.
''I can only blame myself. I don't know if I will ever have such an opportunity again in this tournament.'' Dittmar, a regular in the Hong Kong Open since 1986, hurt his left knee during the Australian Open final on Sunday and is scheduled to have an operation this week.