Hong Kong mixed doubles pair Tang Chun-man and Tse Ying-suet demonstrated remarkable resilience during Wednesday's opening round of the 35th Hong Kong Open Badminton Championships, coming from behind to defeat Malaysia's Wong Tien-ci and Lim Chiew-sien 2-1 at Hung Hom Coliseum.
The local favorites started slowly in the first game, making unforced errors before dropping the opener 13-21. They regrouped and dominated the second game 21-10 to level the match. The decisive third game saw Tang and Tse display excellent coordination and fluid movement, closing out the match with a commanding 21-9 victory for a final score of 13-21, 21-10, 21-9.
Tang acknowledged their slow start after the match: "Our performance in the first game wasn't ideal, both in terms of form and mentality. I'm grateful to Ying-suet for fighting hard today - that turning point was difficult because when emotions aren't working well, she performed excellently and managed to turn things around."
The Hong Kong player emphasized the importance of home crowd support: "We always try our best to play every match in front of Hong Kong citizens, hoping to play more matches for them and achieve our goal of breaking our personal best results. The audience didn't give up on us, and we didn't give up on ourselves either. We fought point by point and ultimately won, which makes us very happy and adds to our experience."
Regarding Tse's emotional tears after the match, Tang commented: "We both know our form hasn't been ideal, which was evident in the first game. Perhaps there was built-up pressure, frustration with our performance, or disappointment with recent results - this became one way to release those emotions. After crying, maybe some pressure was released, and we played better afterward. We hope to perform even better tomorrow."
