Asian Games: good draw has Hong Kong table tennis coach eyeing group win

Hong Kong women’s table tennis team were handed a favourable draw in the Asian Games on Thursday, leading coach Li Ching to believe his team could win their group.

Hong Kong will face Uzbekistan and Bahrain in Group E, with the top two teams from each of the six groups advancing to the second knockout round.

Li, a former Olympics silver medallist, said the results of the first-round draw was “pretty good”.

“But then the draw for the second round will be crucial, it depends on the draw, because those teams who finished second in the group aren’t easy to deal with,” he said.

While the women’s team, led by Doo Hoi-kem and flanked by the likes of Lee Ho-ching and Zhu Chengzhu, are not expecting to face much trouble early on, the same cannot be said for the men, who were handed a tougher route to the next round.

Also in Group E, they have to contend with Iran, Mongolia and Bahrain in the battle for the top two spots.

“The result is a normal one for us,” Leung Chu-yan, men’s team coach, said. “Iran are not an easy team for sure, we lost 3-2 to them in the classification round in the previous Asian Championships in 2021.”

Leung added that Iran’s Afshin Norouzi beat Japan’s Tomokazu Harimoto in the regional championships in Korea just before heading to Hangzhou.

“We have no idea if Iran will play Norouzi but they are a balanced team,” he said. “I think the chances are 50-50, but of course, we’d like to win the group.”

Hong Kong managed two bronze medals in Jakarta five years ago, with the women’s team, and mixed-doubles pair Ho Kwan-kit and Lee, earning a spot on the podium.