Hong Kong's next generation of paddlers staked a claim for the future as they beat North Korea 3-1 in the fifth-to-eighth-place play-off at the Asian Championships yesterday.
Following a 3-1 defeat by Japan in the quarter-finals, Hong Kong rested their two top players - former mainlanders Tie Yana and Jiang Huajin - and sent in a team of home-grown talents: Lee Ho-ching, Ng Wing-lam and Yu Kwok-see.
And the trio, who are all making their debuts in Macau, responded to the occasion to score the team's first win of the tournament.
Nineteen-year-old Lee, who upset world No11 Sayaka Hirano of Japan the previous night, was again the hero, scoring two points for Hong Kong with her victories over Korean No1 Kim Jong and Kim Hye-song, while Ng also beat also Kim Hye-song, with Yu suffering the only defeat.
'The victory over Hirano has boosted my confidence,' said Lee. 'I only slept for two hours after the win as I was so excited, but today my condition was still fine. Kim Jong is a strong player, but did not perform to her best. Perhaps she was under too much pressure as on paper she had a good chance of beating me.'
Coach Li Huifen said she needed to prepare for the future and was happy the young charges did not let her down.
