2024 World Table Tennis Team Championship: Hong Kong Women's Team Wins Bronze Medal

2024-02-23 13:10:39

[Sports Road Busan Direct Attack]The Hong Kong women’s table tennis team, composed of Du Kaiqin, Zhu Chengzhu and Li Haoqing, today (23rd) challenged the Japanese team, ranked second in the inter-team world, in the top four of the 2024 World Table Tennis Team Championship. In the end, Hong Kong After a tough battle, they lost 0:3 and missed the chance to advance to the finals. However, without a third-place match, they won the bronze medal in the World Championships for the first time in 6 years.

The Hong Kong women’s table tennis team won the bronze medal in the 2018 World Table Tennis Championships. Du Kaiqin and Li Haoqing were already the heroes of the medal at that time. They lost to Germany in the top 8 in 2022 and missed the medal podium again. They made a comeback this year. Du and Li Haoqing Renlian and Zhu Chengzhu have performed well in recent days. First, they won all 4 games in the group stage and advanced directly to the top 16. Then they defeated Poland 3:1 to achieve the goal of advancing to the top 8 and qualify for the Paris Olympic women’s team. The Hong Kong women’s players bravely pursued yesterday (22nd) and won 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 runner-up Japanese team today. Many Chinese fans cheered for Du Kaiqin on the spot. Some spectators also shouted “Come on Hong Kong” in Cantonese. Before the game, Anson Lo (Lu Hanting)’s song was broadcast. “Magahit” and Japanese duo YOASOBI’s “Idol” cheered the two teams. The Japanese team dropped Mima Ito in this match, and instead let the 15-year-old Miwa Harimoto take the lead against Du Kaiqin. Miwa Harimoto, ranked 16th in the world, is the sister of Harimoto Satoshi and had earlier squeezed out Mima Ito. Having obtained a ticket to the Paris Olympics, his strength cannot be ignored, and his performance in this year’s World Championships has attracted much attention.

Du Kaiqin played against Zhang Benmei for the second time. Although it started slowly and fell behind 2:5 at one point, he gradually regained his touch after adapting to the opponent’s style of play and launched a crazy 9:2 offensive in one breath to win 11:7. Be first. The situation in the second game was similar. “Adu” also fought back after falling behind 2:5, scoring 6 points in a row to lead 8:5, and then won 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 entering the decisive game. Zhang Benmeihe made a strong start at 6:1, while Du Kaiqin, who was in a tough fight, fought hard. The gap narrowed to 3 points, but they still lost 5:11 in the end, with a loss of 2:3 in the game.

In the second game, Zhu Chengzhu, who sealed the victory for Hong Kong in the top 8 yesterday, defeated Hina Hayata, Japan’s “first sister” and world No. 5. The Hong Kong player handled the initial serve well and led 5:2. Hina Hayata stood firm. After the game, Zhu Chengzhu lost 12:14 after losing the game point. In the second game, Zhu Chengzhu’s reception of serve was poor, allowing Hina Hayata to attack easily, and she was defeated by a big score of 3:11. In the third game, she was also reversed from a 6:5 lead, and lost straight at 7:11. 0:3 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 the world’s 18th-ranked Miu Hirano. In the past eight games between the two, Hong Kong won only in 2013. Once, in recent years, Li Haoqing was at a disadvantage in all their previous matches. Li Haoqing was at a disadvantage due to Hirano Miu’s serving and speed. As a result, she lost in 3 games (5:11, 5:11, 5:11).

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 the Paris Olympics ticket. This trip to Busan can be said to have exceeded the task.