At last: Hong Kong guaranteed first medal in Rio de Janeiro after Wong Ka-man and Ng Mui-wui reach Paralympic Games table tennis semi-finals
Poland’s Krystyna Siemieniecka and Ukraine’s Natalia Kosmina stand in the way on Sunday in the last four of the TT11 event, although there was disappointment for Wong Pui-yi in the TT5 category
Hong Kong are guaranteed a first medal in Rio de Janeiro after both defending champion Wong Ka-man and Ng Mui-wui secured a place in the semi-finals of the women’s table tennis singles (TT11) at the Paralympic Games.
London 2012 gold medallist Wong won 3-2 against Dorota Nowacka of Poland in her last group stage match, which included edging the final game 13-11 to seal the win in 36 minutes.
Wong will now meet another Pole, Krystyna Siemieniecka, on Sunday, while Ng will face Ukraine’s Natalia Kosmina for a place in the final later that day after beating Japan’s Maki Ito 3-1 in 24 minutes.
Even if they both lose their semi-finals, Wong and Ng will at least face-off in the bronze medal match to ensure Hong Kong’s 24-member Paralympic team returns from Brazil with at least one medal to show for their efforts after the 38-member Olympic Games team left Rio empty-handed.
Watch: Ng Mui-wui v Maki Ito
But it was the end of story for Wong Pui-yi as she lost 3-0 to Japan’s Kimie Bessho in her last group stage match in the women’s singles (TT5).
Elsewhere, Wong Yan-wo finished 19th in the men’s 10-metre air pistol (P1).
Wong accumulated 554 points in the qualifiers, but was unable to reach the eight-man final which was eventually won by Yang Chao of China.
Finally, Yam Kwok-fan was the last to finish in the women’s 100 metres (T36) final after clocking 16.48 seconds behind Yanina Andrea Martinez of Argentina who claimed the gold medal in 14.46 seconds.
Watch: women’s 100 metres (T36) final
