HK athletes bag two bronze medals

Hong Kong athletes have bagged two bronze medals in table tennis and triathlon at the Hangzhou Asian Games yesterday, putting the SAR at sixth place among 45 nations in the medal count standings with 43 in total, on par with Uzbekistan.

As Hong Kong's top male paddler for years, the 32-year-old Wong Chun-ting has finally proved himself with a bronze medal in this year's Asiad -- the first medal he won in an international tournament in his career.

Wong, currently ranked 49th in the world, had to face 23-year-old world number two, Wang Chuqin from China, in the semifinals, but he braved the edge in world rankings and only succumbed to the player from China 4-2 after a six-game thriller.

Despite being eliminated at the semifinals, Wong was able to snatch a bronze medal for his first ever Asiad medal in his career, and he is also the second Hong Kong paddler to stand on the Asian Games podium of the table tennis men's singles after Li Ching, who did it with a bronze medal in the 2006 Doha Asian Games.

After the match, Wong admitted that Wang's play is more all-rounded and he has already fulfilled his expectations of himself before the game -- winning two games against Wang.

"I hope the Hong Kong team can take part in more competitions and accumulate more points so that we can get a higher seeding in competitions to avoid strong teams like China," Wong said. "I also hope that there will also be more youngsters trying to fight me for the title as Hong Kong's top male table tennis player."

Elsewhere in the Chun'an Jieshou Sports Centre Triathlon Course, the Hong Kong team, consisting of Wong Tsz-to, Bailee Brown, Hardcastle Ng Tai-long and Charlotte Hall, snatched a bronze in triathlon mixed relay.

The three finished the race in one minute and 28.22 seconds, which is two minutes behind winner Japan.

Hall said in a post-race interview that the team performed well despite racing against strong opponents, which also made her put up her best performance to finish the race.

The Hong Kong Baptist University congratulated Wong, who is one of its students, for his "well-deserved reward".

More medals also came in through the weekend, including 22-year-old golfer Kho Taichi, who snatched a gold in the individual event and a bronze in the team event on Sunday in the Asiad.

The Hong Kong Golf Club and Hong Kong's golf association both issued statements to congratulate him, while the golf association also called on Hong Kong to provide the sport with more support to extend the "harvest period" of local talented young golfers.

Also, the Hong Kong football team has also historically advanced to the semifinals of the Asian Games after beating Iran 1-0 on Sunday.

They will be facing Japan tomorrow to fight for a ticket to the finals.

In a post-match interview, Poon said: "Every teammate gave their best, and everyone contributed. We have been the underdog, but anything could happen on the pitch."

michael.shum@singtaonewscorp.com