Hong Kong's dream of a first ever medal at the World Championships was gone with the wind yesterday as women's singles hope Wang Chen suffered a bitterly disappointing quarter-final defeat.
Wang, the fourth seed and former world number one, had been presented with a gilt-edged opportunity to secure a semi-final berth and with it a guaranteed bronze medal after being drawn against the unseeded Cheng Shaoi-chieh of Taiwan. But Wang found the expectation of victory too great a burden and never looked comfortable as she crashed to a 11-9, 5-11, 11-6 defeat at the Arrowhead Pond.
Though a swirling wind caused by air conditioning inside the arena undoubtedly affected Wang's game plan, questions will be raised about her temperament.
The 29-year-old mainland born player's shoulders sagged whenever points or decisions went against her and once Cheng opened up an 8-5 lead in the decisive game, the outcome was never in doubt.
Wang said afterwards she had struggled to work out the wind patterns blowing across the court, and said her easy victories in the early rounds when she dropped only two points had not been the best preparation.
'I wasn't ready for a match like that. Cheng played really well and put me under pressure with her attack,' said Wang. 'The wind made it very hard. I tried to keep her at the back of the court but I kept over-hitting and going out.'
Disconsolate Hong Kong coach Chan Chi-choi could not hide his disappointment at seeing a bronze medal go begging. 'It's very, very disappointing because we had a good chance of winning a medal,' Chan told the Sunday Post.
