Hong Kong mixed doubles pair Wong and Doo march into semi-finals at Singapore Smash

Mixed doubles pair Wong Chun-ting and Doo Hoi-kem reached the semi-finals of the lucrative Singapore Smash on Monday, although Wong’s singles campaign was ended by Patrick Franziska of Germany in the round of 32.

The Hong Kong pair were meant to face a stern test against fourth seeds Tomokazu Harimoto and Hina Hayata of Japan, runners-up at last November’s World Championships in Houston, but they stormed to an overwhelming 3-0 victory in a clash which lasted less than 30 minutes.

Wong and Doo, the 2015 and 2017 World Championships bronze medallists, dominated from the start, taking the opening game 11-9 before snatching victory with two 11-6 wins. The now face Sun Yingsha and Wang Chuqin of China, the favourites and second seeds.

“They did a great job in controlling the ball with some accurate placings, leaving the opponents little chance,” Chan Kong-wah, Hong Kong’s head coach, said. “The 3-0 result came as a bit of a surprise, but Doo has improved her ball controlling skills. Against the Chinese pair, if they can perform like they did today, they may pull off another surprise.”

In another quarter final, Hong Kong’s Ho Kwan-kit and partner Nina Mittelham of Germany came up short against French pair Emmanuel Lebesson and Yuan Jianan, losing 3-1 (11-13, 11-8, 11-5, 11-9). They will take on top seeds Lin Yun-Ju and Cheng I-Ching of Taiwan.

The total winning purse of US$2 million in the Singapore tournament is the biggest ever on offer for an official event on the world circuit as World Table Tennis intends to make it a series like the grand slams in tennis.

In singles, Franziska took the first two games comfortably, 11-5 and 11-4, before Wong pulled one back 11-9. Franziska then wrapped the match up with another 11-8 win in the fourth.