Hong Kong Table Tennis Duo Secures Olympic Qualification in Paris 2024

2024-04-11 19:45:21

[Tilu News]The two-day World Table Tennis Mixed Doubles Olympic Qualification Tournament kicked off in the Czech Republic on Thursday (11th), with 26 pairs striving for four Olympic tickets. Hong Kong’s Wong Chun-ting/To Hoi-kuen, ranked seventh in the world, won three tough matches in a row in the first stage and won the second group knockout championship, successfully qualifying for the Olympic Games. This is also the first time the Hong Kong team has won so far. 20 tickets.

According to ITTF regulations, the top five teams in the world can directly qualify for the Paris Olympic Mixed Doubles, and the remaining teams must compete for places through this qualifying tournament. The event was held in two stages. In the first stage on the first day (11th), 26 pairs were divided into 2 groups for the knockout round. The champions of the 2 groups were the first to board the Olympic train. The 24 pairs that failed to qualify moved to the second stage the next day (12th), and were seeded according to the first stage results and world rankings. They were also divided into 2 groups and the remaining 2 seats were determined in a knockout format.

Huang Zhenting (left), Du Kaiqin (right) (Photo: WTT)

In the first stage, Huang Zhenting/Du Kaiqin were listed as the top seeds of the Group 2 knockout round. They received a bye in the first round. In the top 8, they faced Samuel KULCZYCKI/Zuzanna WIELGOS of Poland. “Huang Dupei” fell behind 0:2 (10:12, 6: 11) In the next three games (11:3, 11:6, 11:7), Hong Kong went ahead 3:2. Although the opponent lost 11:8 to tie 3:3 in the 6th game, Hong Kong will withstand the pressure in the decisive game. , won 11:5, and won the game 4:3 to advance in danger.

The top four “Huang Du Pei” faced the 24th-ranked Swedish combination Kristian KARLSSON/Christina KALLBERG, and once again staged a comeback. The two fought back at a disadvantage of 1:2 (6:11, 11:5, 8:11). In the end, he won three games in a row, 11:8, 11:5, and 11:7, and the total number of games passed was 4:2. Huang Zhenting/Du Kaiqin reached the final to challenge the 17th-ranked Luxembourg combination Ni Xialian/Luka MLADENOVIC. Although the former is 60 years old, they are still young.

“Huang Dupei” entered the game quickly this time and achieved a 3:1 (11:5, 7:11, 11:6, 11:9) lead. Although he lost the 5th game at 10:12 and was chased by his opponent 2:3, but the two did not hesitate at 10:11 at the end of the 6th game, bravely saving the decisive point, and finally won at 13:11 to seal the 4:2 victory, won the second group championship, and successfully entered the Paris Olympics. Train, Huang Zhenting/To Kaiqin will participate in the Olympic mixed doubles event for two consecutive years.

Huang Zhenting (left), Du Kaiqin (right) (Photo: WTT)

Together with the women’s team and 2 women’s singles seats that were previously obtained in the world team competition, Hong Kong Table Tennis has obtained a total of top 4 Olympic tickets and is also the 20th place for the Hong Kong team.

2024 Paris Olympics Hong Kong team quota (as of April 12)

1) He Shibei (Swimming – Women’s 400m Freestyle)
2) He Shibei (Swimming – Women’s 200m Freestyle)
3) Zhang Xinyue (Swimming – Women’s 200m backstroke)
4) He Shibei (Swimming – Women’s 100m Freestyle)
5) He Zhentao (Swimming – Men’s 50m Freestyle)
6) He Shibei (Swimming – Women’s 50m Freestyle)
7) Candidate to be determined (Sail-Women’s iQFOiL)
8) Candidates to be determined (Cycling – Men’s Individual Road Race)
9) Candidates to be determined (Cycling – Women’s Individual Road Race)
10) He Shibei (Swimming – Women’s 100m breaststroke)
11) Bei Junlong (Sailboat – Men’s ILCA 7 single-handed sailboat)
12) Candidates to be determined (Swimming – Women’s 4×100m Freestyle Relay)
13) Candidates to be determined (Swimming – Women’s 4×100m Medley Relay)
14) Candidates to be determined (Table Tennis – Women’s Team Competition)
15) Candidate to be determined (Table Tennis – Women’s Singles)
16) Candidates to be determined (Table Tennis – Women’s Singles)
17) Zhang Jialang (Fencing – Men’s Foil Individual Competition)
18) Chen Nuosi (Fencing-Women’s Foil Individual Competition)
19) Jiang Minxi (Fencing – Women’s Epee Individual Competition)
20) Huang Zhenting/Du Kaiqin (Table Tennis-Mixed Doubles)