World Team Table Tennis Championships: Zhu shines again, leads Hong Kong to 3-0 win over Brazil
- Zhu Chengzhu pulls off another surprising win, downing world No 21 Bruna Takahashi, and now victory over South Africa would see them top Group 3
- Hong Kong’s men lose to Japan but could yet qualify for knockout phase
Hong Kong’s women continued their winning streak at the World Team Table Tennis Championships on Monday, brushing aside Brazil 3-0 and leaving just South Africa between them and finishing top of Group 3.
Doo Hoi-kem, the in-form Zhu Chengzhu, and Minnie Soo Wai-yam made no mistake against the South Americans, breezing through the encounter without dropping a game at the Chengdu High-Tech Zone Sports Centre.
The trio face the African side on Tuesday, and head coach Chan Kong-wah said he did not expect them to pose many problems.
“We just have to maintain the form, physically and mentally, and it shouldn’t be a big problem against the Africans,” he said. “The team has been performing so far, especially debutant Zhu, who has been in marvellous form.
“People from outside may find her performance a bit of a surprise, but she has been working hard to come through the ranks. We know she has the quality and needs an opportunity. Now all her effort is paying off.”
Against Brazil, Doo, the world No 7, drew the first blood, beating Giulia Takahashi 11-7, 11-4, 12-10, before Zhu scored an important victory over Bruna Takahashi, Brazil’s No 1, who represented the country at the Tokyo Olympics last summer.
Ranked 93rd in the world, Zhu, 25, surprised the world No 21 by taking the first two games 11-7, before the duo battled in the third with Zhu eventually coming through 18-16.