(From L-R) Wong Chin-yau, Minnie So, Mak Tze-wing and coach Li Ching cheer on Liu Qi in the team event at the junior World Championships in Cape Town. (Photo : Twitter)
Hong Kong’s junior table tennis players returned from the World Junior Championships victorious, with Mak Tze-Wing bringing home a silver medal in the girls’ singles games. This marks her last appearance in the junior level.
Mak went through 64 players before reaching the finals. She lost in a close fight to Shi Xunyao from China. They fought in four games, including two games after a deuce. Although she lost, she already won Hong Kong their best result ever in the Table Tennis World Championships.
Mak’s team members include Liu Qi, Minnie So Wai-Yam and Wong Chin-yau.
China has never lost the girls’ singles title since the 2003 annual Table Tennis World Junior Championships. For Hong Kong, this was their first ever medal in the girls’ singles.
Mak said: “We came to the worlds with sights set on the team event for a medal and we are very happy to reach our target. We won two medals in the doubles and this is due to largely to our regular appearance on the world tour. We are very eager to prove we are at Asia or world level and we did it.”
Li Ching, Mak's coach, said: “She has beaten some of the players that she never beat before in Cape Town. The hard work paid off and it proved she has improved a lot. Mak was playing her last junior worlds, the same as So and Liu, but the girls did a great job in the team event by keeping our good track record and enjoyed a perfect ending.”
Hong Kong pair Mak and Minnie stunned their opponents from China, Liu Weishan and Sun Yizhen. They scored 3-2 in the round of 16. They also smashed their South Korean opponents, scoring 4-0 in the next round.
