Vincent Wong, Angus Ng strong in opening round of World Badminton Championships
- The World Badminton Championships opened in Tokyo on Monday, with more than 350 players from 47 countries and regions
- Hong Kong got their campaign off to a solid start with big wins from Vincent Wong, Ng Ka-long and Lee Cheuk-yiu
Vincent Wong Wing-ki won a three-set thriller in his farewell World Championships in Tokyo on Monday, advancing to the second round against compatriot Angus Ng Ka-long.
The No 67-ranked Wong earned a last-minute entry into the global tournament to end his 17-year career and his opening match forced him to dig deep.
During their 57 minute battle with Belgium’s Julien Carraggi, the Hongkonger was down 15-21 in the first set, but pulled himself together to win the second set from behind with 22-20, taking the third set 21-11.
“I’m extremely blessed to finish my career in this high-profile event, and meeting Ka-long in the second round is a bonus,” Wong said.
“I have missed international events for more than three years due to the pandemic, and it appeared in today’s first set that I don’t know how to play the game. I didn’t have good rhythm, but I thought back to my daughter’s encouragement before the match and I was full of power, even though I was tired from the three sets.
“Knowing that this is my final event, my emotions were complicated. This win means a lot to me.”
The city’s No 1-ranked player Ng won his first match 21-15, 23-21 against Korean Heo Kwang-hee. In the first set Ng was leading 11-3 before Heo narrowed the gap to 11-8, but Ng pulled through to win the set. The second set was equally thrilling, where Ng initially led by seven match points, but his opponent levelled twice with 20-20, 21-21.
