Badminton World Championships: Hong Kong’s hopes over as Angus Ng blows match point, while Japan’s Kodai Naraoka continues meteoric rise
- Ng has match point to reach quarter-finals, but is unable to take it and his old rival Shi Yuqi of China capitalises
- Lee Cheuk-yiu crumbles against fourth seed Naraoka, while all of Hong Kong’s doubles pairs are also beaten
Hong Kong’s players fell one by one at the badminton World Championships, with the city’s last remaining representatives exiting in the round of 16.
In a men’s singles, Angus Ng Ka-long had a chance to prolong his stay at the championships in Copenhagen, only to squander a match point against long-time rival Shi Yuqi of China.
Having lost the first set by a gaping 21-7 margin, the 29-year-old fought back in the second set, maintaining a lead from the very first point until he sealed it 21-14.
In the deciding set, Ng and eighth seed Shi exchanged the lead until the mainland Chinese player built a 15-8 advantage. Ng managed to close the gap and then reached match point, before Shi took three consecutive points to claim the victory.
Shi’s next opponent is one of the fastest improving players on the tour: Kodai Naraoka of Japan, whose world ranking jumped from 31st to No 4 in only a year.
Hong Kong’s Lee Cheuk-yiu got taste of the 22-year-old Naraoka’s skills in their round-of-16 match, losing 21-11, 21-4 in a matter of 36 minutes. In the second set, Naraoka led 14-0 before the Hongkonger finally managed to make an appearance on the scoreboard.
