High Olympic hopes for badminton, judo athletes

Michael Shum and Kelly Kong

Hong Kong star shuttlers Jordan Tang Chun-man and Tse Ying-suet have their eyes set on medals in the upcoming Paris Olympics, which will start next Friday, while Wong Ka-lee will be the first Hong Kong judoka to compete in the Games in 12 years.

The Hong Kong administration earlier announced that it will send 35 athletes to compete in 13 events in the Games, including the "Tang-Tse pair," who will be among the six-strong badminton team.

Both Tang and Tse said they are hoping to make up for their shortfall in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, finishing fourth in mixed doubles.

"We did not do ourselves justice in Tokyo, and therefore I hope we can show our top performance in Paris," Tang said.

Tse, who has already participated in four Olympic Games, said this year might be her swan song as an athlete, and she therefore hopes to let go of all worries and show the world her best performance.

"Last time [in Tokyo], after playing the last match and the last point, I was not able to control my emotions. Maybe after having this experience, I will know how to hold my emotions and not let emotions get the better of me," Tse said.

Their road to claiming a medal might have been slightly easier, as one of the pairs in the same group - Denmark's Mathias Christiansen and Alexandra Boje - have decided to pull out of the Games due to multiple "unintentional errors" made in reporting Christiansen's whereabouts in line with anti-doping regulations.

However, Group C with the "Tang-Tse pair" will go with three teams, giving the Hong Kong pair a greater chance to snatch one of the two places to qualify for the quarterfinals.

Hong Kong's men's singles representative Lee Cheuk-yiu, who will be playing for the first time in the Olympics, said he is targeting a gold medal, including a HK$6 million cash reward from the administration.

"There will only be one winner in the tournament, coming in second is still losing the tournament. I will be doing every single thing, every single detail to achieve my goal," Lee said.

Badminton team head coach Tim He Yiming, who has coached for 14 years, said he will be retiring after the Olympics and therefore hopes the team can win as many medals as possible, while inviting mainland and overseas players to train with Hong Kong athletes to ensure they are at their best condition.

Meanwhile, Wong Ka-lee will compete in the women's category under 48 kilograms, making her the third Hong Kong judo athlete to compete in the Olympics. She said her original target was to compete in the Asian Games, but a postponement made her change to qualifying for the Olympics.

After overcoming setbacks in the Asian Championship, Wong finally clenched the Olympics qualification after coming in fifth in the Moroccan Open.

"Athletes might not be in their best condition in every competition, but we have spent a lot of time and effort," Wong added.