Hong Kong’s Eudice Chong battles through marathon day to reach singles semi-finals and doubles final in ITF W40

Women’s No 1 spends almost 5 hours under the sun at Victoria Park before winning 2 crucial matches

Chong upsets top seed Na Lae-han in the singles before partnering with Cody Wong to beat Japan pair Momoko Kobori and Ayano Shimizu

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Eudice Chong in action during the ITF Women’s World Tour in Victoria Park. Photo: Edmond So

Published: 8:34pm, 7 Jul 2023

Eudice Chong endured a marathon day under the sun to reach the singles semi-finals and final of the doubles at the ITF World Tour W40 tournament in Hong Kong on Friday.

The 27-year-old first upset top seed Na Lae-han of South Korea after almost three hours, before lining up with partner Cody Wong Hong-yi to beat Japan’s Momoko Kobori and Ayano Shimizu in the scorching heat at Victoria Park Tennis Stadium.

Chong overcame a second-set wobble to beat her Korean opponent 7-5, 4-6, 6-2 in two hours and 45 minutes, and said she had started to get cramp in the final set.

“Fortunately my mind told me to hang in there and I was able to last through it,” she said.

After a two-hour break, Chong was back on court again, joining Wong to win their doubles semi-final 6-4, 6-2 in 73 minutes.

Cody Wong (left) and Eudice Chong take a rest during their women’s doubles semi-final at Victoria Park Tennis Stadium. Photo: Edmond So

The city’s top women’s player faces another tough day on Saturday, with a singles semi-final against Japan’s Aoi Ito, and doubles final against Ito’s compatriot’s Natsumi Kawaguchi and Kanako Morisaki, who beat top seeds Ma Yexin of China and Liang En-Shou of Taiwan in straight sets 7-5, 6-4 in the last four.