[Ymosodiad Uniongyrchol Busan Ffordd Chwaraeon]Today (23rd) the Hong Kong women’s table tennis team, consisting of Du Kaiqin, Zhu Chengzhu and Li Haoqing, challenged the Japanese team, second in the inter-team world, in the top four of the World Table Tennis Team Championship 2024. In the end, Hong Kong After a hard fight, they lost 0:3 and missed the chance to advance to the finals, but without a third match, they won the bronze medal at the World Championships for the first time in 6 years.
The Hong Kong women’s table tennis team won the bronze medal at the 2018 World Table Tennis Championships. Du Kaiqin and Li Haoqing were already medal champions at that time. They lost to Germany in the top 8 in 2022 and missed the opportunity to step on the medal podium again. They came back this year. Du and Li Haoqing Renlian and Zhu Chengzhu have performed well in recent days. First, they won all 4 matches in the stage group and progress directly to the top 16. defeated Poland 3:1 to reach the goal of reaching the top 8 and qualifying for the Paris Olympic women’s team. Hong Kong women’s players chased bravely yesterday (22nd) winning 3:2 after five fierce battles with Chinese Taipei They returned to the top four after 6 years and secured medals.
The Hong Kong team defeated the last Japanese team today. Many Chinese fans cheered for Du Kaiqin at the spot, and some spectators also shouted “Come on Hong Kong” in Cantonese. Before the game, Anson Lo (Lu Hanting)’s “Magahit” and the Japanese duo YOASOBI’s “Idol” cheered both teams. The Japanese team dropped Mima Ito for this match, and instead let 15-year-old Miwa Harimoto take the lead against Du Kaiqin. Miwa Harimoto, ranked 16 in the world, is the sister of Harimoto Satoshi, and had squeezed out Mima Ito earlier. Having qualified for the Olympic Games in Paris, his strength cannot be ignored, and his performance at this year’s World Championships has attracted a lot of attention.
Du Kaiqin played against Zhang Benmei for the second time, although he started slowly and fell behind 2:5 at one point, he gradually regained his touch after adapting to the opponent’s playing style and launched an offensive crazy 9:2 in one breath to win 11:7 Be first. The situation in the second game was similar. “Adu” also fought back after being behind by 2:5, scoring 6 points in a row to lead 8:5, and then winning again at 11:9, taking the lead to 2:0. With no way to retreat, Zhang Benmeihe made a last stand and accelerated his attack speed to chase two consecutive games at 11:4 and 11:6, evening 2:2 and enter the decisive match. Zhang Benmeihe made a strong start at 6:1, while Du Kaiqin, who was in a tough fight, fought hard. He narrowed the gap to 3 points, but still lost 5:11 in the end, with a loss of 2:3 in the game.
In the second match, Zhu Chengzhu, who sealed the victory for Hong Kong in the top 8 yesterday, defeated Hina Hayata, the “first sister” of Japan and world No. 5. The Hong Kong player handled the initial serve well and led 5 :2 Hina Hayata stood firm. After the match, Zhu Chengzhu lost 12:14 after losing the match point. In the second game, Zhu Chengzhu’s service reception was poor, allowing Hina Hayata to attack easily, and she was defeated by a big score of 3:11. In the third game, it was also reversed in front 6:5, and lost straight away at 7:11. 0:3 he professed surrender.
The Hong Kong team fell behind to 0:2 in the third game. In the third game, the “senior sister” Li Haoqing, who had never lost before, had a fierce battle with Miu Hirano in the world who ranked 18. In the past eight games between the two, Hong Kong only won in 2013. Once, in recent years, Li Haoqing was kept at a disadvantage by her opponents in all their previous encounters. She was dominated by the service and speed of Miu Hirano, and in the end lost in 3 games (5:11, 11:5, 11:5).
Although the Hong Kong team lost to Japan 0:3 and missed the final, they still won the bronze medal after 2018 and also won a ticket to the Paris Olympics. It can be said that this trip to Busan surpassed the a task
Photos and text: Vincent Busan Direct
This article was originally published by “Sportsroad” in “Table Tennis World Championships Live | Hong Kong women’s team fought hard but lost to Japan to win bronze medal for the first time in 6 years”
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