23-05-2025
- Sport
- South China Morning Post
World Table Tennis Championships: coach says Hong Kong pair are underdogs in semi-finals
Hong Kong head coach Li Ching said the city's mixed doubles pair of Doo Hoi-kem and Wong Chun-ting would come out as underdogs for their semi-final at the ITTF World Table Tennis Championships in Doha, Qatar on Friday.
The Hong Kong pair will play Satsuki Odo and Maharu Yoshimura of Japan for a spot in the final, and Li said he viewed their opponents as favourites despite the Hongkongers' better head-to-head record.
'It wasn't surprising that they have made it this far, but it wasn't assumed either,' said Li, who won a bronze medal at the worlds alongside Ko Lai-chak in 2007. 'I have to praise their fighting spirit and their determination.
'They gave absolutely everything and probably just have half a life left because of the arrangement of the fixtures. You've seen how the players have had to travel between two arenas for their matches and let's not forget Wong is 33 years old already.'
Matches are played at Lusail Sports Arena and Qatar University Sports Complex, which are 15km apart.
Li also said it was an 'unexpectedly smooth' win over Maria Xiao and Alvaro Robles, with the No 3 seeds from Hong Kong breezing past the Spaniards 11-1, 11-5, 11-7 in just over 19 minutes on Wednesday.
