Hong Kong table tennis pairs put in medal-winning performance in Doha

But the fifth seeds fought back, winning the next two sets 11-8, before taking the decider 11-4.

In the women’s event, Doo Hoi-kem and Zhu Chengzhu bettered their quarter-finals performance in the WTT Contender in Qatar last week, taking bronze in the doubles.

Doo and Zhu started well with a 3-1 victory over Romanian pair Andreea Dragoman and Irina Ciobanu, and followed that with a 3-2 win over a multi-national pair – Franziska Schreiner of Germany and Zhang Sofia-Xuan from Sprain – in the last eight.

The world No 16 pair from Hong Kong then faced China’s Shi Xunyao and Qian Tianyi for a berth in the final.

In a rematch of last week’s round of 16 tie, which Hong Kong won 3-1, China’s Shi and Qian were in complete control, dispatching Doo and Zhu 11-9, 11-3 and 11-7 in 22 minutes.

Despite the loss, Li Ching, the head coach of the women’s team, said the results were “normal and expected”.

“They beat the same opponents just last week and they lost this time, it depended on the match day performance really,” said Li, who won silver in the men’s doubles at the Olympic Games in Athens in 2004.

“It will be better if they can be more decisive, it was really 50-50 between them and win or less depends on who emerged tougher in crucial moments.”

The latest Feeder event in Doha was the third straight tournament for the Hong Kong team in the Middle East, and Li said the month-long preparation and matches was taking its toll on the players.

“From a coaching standpoint, the players need to have better stamina to go through a series of matches now that the lockdown between borders are relaxing, they need strengthening in this aspect to ensure their performance,” Li said.