Table tennis: Hong Kong pair hope improved mental strength gained from Tokyo Olympics will result in medals at Houston World Championships
- Mixed doubles duo Wong Chun-ting and Doo Hoi-kem are favourites to earn a podium place after two bronze medals at previous worlds
- Favourites China are still in a class of their own even without defending men’s and women’s singles champions Ma Long and Liu Shiwen
Hong Kong’s table tennis players are hoping improved mental strength, bolstered by their performances at the 2020 Olympic Games, can lead to better results at the World Championships, which are due to kick off in Houston on Tuesday.
The women clinched a team bronze after toppling favourites Germany in the medal play-off in Tokyo, Hong Kong’s second-ever table tennis Olympic medal after a men’s doubles silver from Ko Lai-chak and Li Ching at the 2004 Athens Games.
“They have grown a lot after going through the toughest tournament in the world this summer, especially on their mental side,” said table tennis head coach Chan Kong-wah. “Even the mixed doubles pair who lost in the quarter-finals in Tokyo have taken something from their defeat.
“Our preparation for the worlds is not perfect because we needed to go through quarantine after returning from the Asian Championships and the WTT series in Doha last month. Also some of the players were required to attend commercial activities after the Olympic Games. But as the big events in table tennis return, we hope they can rise to the occasion and bring home some ‘surprising’ results, just like they did in Tokyo this summer.”
Mixed doubles pair Wong Chun-ting and Doo Hoi-kem will be eager to make amends in Houston after a disappointing run in the Tokyo Olympics where they were stunned by French pair Emmanuel Lebesson and Yuan Jianan in the last eight.