Hong Kong’s Vincent Wong reaches third round of Worlds after surviving major scare
The 12th seed survives three match points against Japan’s Kenta Tsuneyama before booking his place in the third round, joining teammate Angus Ng in Glasgow
Hong Kong’s Vincent Wong Wing-ki survived three match points before edging Kenta Tsuneyama, of Japan, in an exhausting 83-minute rally to reach the third round of the men’s singles at badminton’s World Championships in Glasgow.
The 12th seed, who qualified for the 2012 Olympic Games but missed out on Rio four years later, beat the unseeded Japanese in three games 21-23, 21-15, 26-24.
Wong will next meet fourth seed Shi Yuqi, of China. Ninth seed Angus Ng Ka-long, the highest ranked player from Hong Kong, brushed aside Rosario Maddaloni, of Italy, in straight games, 21-10, 21-15.
In the women’s doubles, Tse Ying-suet and Poon Lok-yan bid farewell to the championships after losing 2-0 (21-14, 21-19) to the Luo sisters, Yu and Ying, the eighth seeds from China. But Chinese top seeds Li Junhui and Liu Yuchen suffered a shock exit in the men’s doubles.
They met their match in new Indonesian pairing of Mohammad Ahsan and Rian Agung Saputro, who came from behind to win 19-21, 21-18, 21-18.
“They were faster than us today,” reflected Liu. “And they did better in the long rallies.” Li said he and his partner would draw on the experience for next time.