Tokyo Olympics: Minnie Soo caps bad day for Hong Kong paddlers with comeback kid Lam the only positive
- Soo says nerves and rustiness played a part in opening loss to Spaniard Xiao
- Lam to face host country hero Harimoto in round three after stirring comeback
Defeat for Hong Kong No 2 Minnie Soo Wai-yam capped an ultimately disappointing day for the city’s paddlers at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium on Sunday, with an unlikely victory for Lam Siu-hang the only bright spot.
Soo had a good chance to make round three of the singles against Maria Xiao, of Spain, who she had prevailed against on every previous meeting. But it had been 10 years since their last meeting and the 27-year-old Xiao left it for the biggest stage of all to record the best result of her career.
Soo, who received a bye in the first round courtesy of her seeding of 17 in the singles field, initially moved into the lead before ceding the next three games. She rallied to 2-3 in game five, but was edged out in game six against world No 76 Xiao.
“I think she played fairly well today and I struggled a bit on receiving,” Soo said.