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Nazvi Careem

HONG KONG'S hopes of further medals in badminton were dismantled, piece by piece, during the course of the quarter-finals at the McKinnon Gymnasium.

 The territory had four representatives in the quarter-finals with victory in any one of them ensuring at least another bronze to go with the mixed team bronze won earlier in the competition.

 But it was not to be for the Hong Kong players, who discovered that fighting spirit alone cannot overcome inexperience and superior ability.

 Men's singles player Wong Wai-lap, men's doubles team Tam Kai-chuen and Ma Chi-kong, mixed doubles Chan Siu-kwong and Chung Hoi-yuk and, lastly, women's doubles pair Chan Oi-ni and Cheng Yin-sat, all needed that final win to enter the medal phase.

 One by one they crumbled, some ruing missed chances and others, particularly the men's doubles pair of Tam and Ma, wondering how they even progressed that far in the competition.

 But the demise had started earlier when women's singles player Wong Chun-fan was beaten 11-4, 11-1 by Australia's Yang Song in the round prior to the quarter-finals.

 Then it was Chan and Chung's turn to bite the dust, although they had the toughest of tasks against England's highly-rated pair of Nick Ponting and Joanne Wright, who won 15-9, 15-8.

 Wong was next to go, but even he had a formidable foe in England's Anders Nielsen.

 Wong took the second set, but his slow movements about the court provided Nielsen with yards of court to exploit as he ran out a 15-9, 11-15, 15-5 winner.

 Tam and Ma's loss to Australia's Peter Blackburn and Mark Nichols was nothing short of frustrating. Teenager Ma, whose appearance in the Games was threatened by injury, was the weak link in the pair, a fact not lost on the Aussies.

 Though not lacking enthusiasm, Ma was unable to choose his shots correctly and was also guilty of that rare occurrence in badminton - an air shot while attempt to put away an easy floater.

 The Australians were good, strong players, but they would be the first to admit they were not as good as their 15-1, 15-2 win suggested. Hong Kong's reputation deserved better.

 It all rested with the territory's women's doubles pair of Chan and Cheng. And for a while, it appeared as if they were going to deliver the goods.

 They had England's Joanne Muggeridge and Joanne Wright in a shambles as they won the first set 15-8.

 But in the excitement, they became clumsy. Wright's powerful smashes and Muggeridge's clever play at the net saw them through 15-8, 15-2 in the last two sets.

 Hong Kong coach Chan Chi-choi found it difficult to criticise his players, who played beyond themselves in winning the team bronze, after a difficult series of matches.

 ''In the team competition, we played six matches in three days,'' said Chan. ''They were all very tired.

 ''It was difficult to lift ourselves again in the other events. But they are a very young team and have done well overall.''  Indeed, for many, this is their first major multi-sport event. Four senior men's players retired from the squad earlier this year and Chan is confident that the team can only improve from here on.



HK medal hopes left in tatters