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Mike Chan

Hong Kong head coach said he was happy to see improvements in the table tennis of veteran mixed doubles pair Wong Chun-ting and Doo Hoi-kem after they won a tournament in Zagreb.
Four-time world championships bronze medallists, Wong and Doo came back from two games down to stun Japan’s Shunsuke Togami and Satsuki Odo, pulling off a 10-12, 7-11, 11-6, 11-4, 11-9 win to take the World Table Tennis (WTT) Contender title in Croatia last week.
The victory added to the city pair’s Star Contender success in Doha in January.
“It’s all about consistency in their performance; if they can keep reaching the podium, the rankings points from that could be quite handy,” Li Ching, the head coach of the team, told the South China Morning Post.
“And then once in a while, if they are going to pull off some heroic performance, then we’re all going to be very happy.”
Li added that he was delighted to see the positive traits demonstrated by his experienced pair when they were faced with challenges.

“We travel around the world for ranking points, so the more points we get, the merrier,” he said. “I am happy with them surely, but it’s not just about the win.
“It’s about their willpower to crawl back, draw level and deliver the results. I think that speaks for itself, and represents rising to a higher level when facing adversity.”
Ranked No 5 in the world before the tournament, the 400 points available from Zagreb could see Wong and Doo climb to No 4 above China’s mixed doubles pair of Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha, who did not play in Croatia, in the next rankings.
In the women’s singles final, Miwa Harimoto of Japan and Zhu Yuling, a former world No 1 from China now representing Macau, produced an epic seven-game encounter full of drama.
World No 3 Harimoto was at one point just one game away from victory after storming to a 3-0 lead, with games of 11-2, 11-6 and 11-9.
But Zhu, who is ranked just one place below, altered her tactics and came back stronger, reeling off three straight games of 11-9, 11-9 and 11-7 to push the match to the decider.
In the seventh game, Zhu was leading 10-4 with six match points, only for the 17-year-old Japanese paddler to win eight points in a row to win the game 12-10 and claim the US$5,000 prize money.
Harimoto and compatriot Odo won the women’s doubles final with a 3-0 win over South Korea’s Lee Eun-hye and Choi Hyo-joo.
In the all-Korean men’s singles final, qualifier Lim Jong-hoon beat eighth seed An Jae-hyun 4-2 to win the title.
There was also a second title for Lim, who is the mixed doubles world No 1 with partner Shin Yubin, after winning the men’s doubles final.
Lim and Oh Jun-sung thrashed tournament top seed pairing of Lin Shidong and Huang Youzheng 3-0 to send the Chinese contingent home from Zagreb without a medal in any of the five events.


Hong Kong head coach happy with progress of table tennis pair Wong Chun-ting and Doo Hoi-kem

China’s second-string players slammed for showing at WTT event as Hong Kong pair win

WTT Finals switch leaves Hong Kong table tennis bosses facing ‘challenging task’

Gap with China closing, Japanese table tennis team say, but beating Sun Yingsha still key

World Table Tennis (WTT)

Hong Kong table tennis players Wong Chun-ting  (left) and Doo Hoi-kem in action at the WTT Contender event in Zagreb. Photo: WTT

Head coach Li Ching is pleased to see Wong Chun-ting and Doo Hoi-kem overcome adversity. Photo: Eugene Lee

The men's doubles players Lin Shidong and Huang Youzheng were the only finalists in the Chinese contingent at the WTT Contender event in Zagreb, Croatia. Photo: Getty Images

World No 6 Chen Yi reached the singles quarter-finals but drew the most criticism from fans. Photo: Xinhua

China’s new table tennis captain Wang Chuqin says role is hard, with ‘nowhere to retreat’

Wang Chuqin hits a return to Matsushima Sora of Japan during the men’s teams final at the World Team Championships in London last month. Photo: Xinhua

Ma Long (left) and coach Wang Hao at the team final at the Paris Olympics. Photo: Xinhua

Sport

Hong Kong

Duo won WTT Contender title in Croatia and Li Ching is delighted to see the positive traits when they are faced with challenges in tournaments


Duo won WTT Contender title in Croatia and Li Ching is delighted to see the positive traits when they are faced with challenges in tournaments.


Doo Hoi-kem

Zhu Yuling

Wong Chun-ting

Hong Kong head coach happy with progress of table tennis pair Wong Chun-ting and Doo Hoi-kem

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Duo won WTT Contender title in Croatia and Li Ching is delighted to see the positive traits when they are faced with challenges in tournaments

Duo won WTT Contender title in Croatia and Li Ching is delighted to see the positive traits when they are faced with challenges in tournaments