HONG KONG settled for silver when the gold was within their grasp in the women's table tennis team event yesterday.
The game's superpower China, the territory's big brother and future masters, might have arrived for the final thinking that the handover - of the gold medal - was just a formality.
But for just a moment, little Hong Kong, especially Chan Tan-lui, showed they were not willing to kow-tow as they had done on so many occasions in the past.
The 25-year-old Chan played probably the best game of her life as she defeated world number one Deng Yaping in the opening singles.
The 22-20, 7-21, 21-18 victory threw up bold visions of a surprise result.
But who was fooling who? Sanity returned to the tables as China's Qiao Hong, the world number two, defeated Chai Po-wa 21-16, 22-20, to even the scores.
