Paris Olympics: Doo Hoi-kem takes blame for Hong Kong’s shock table tennis loss to Sweden
- She says her singles loss from a 2-0 lead was a turning point in the sixth seeds’ defeat by the No 15 team in the round of 16
Doo Hoi-kem said she was to blame for Hong Kong’s shock loss to Sweden that ended the city’s hopes in the women’s team table tennis competition in Paris.
Bronze medallists three years ago, No 6 seeds Hong Kong fell at the first hurdle this time, in the round of 16 late on Monday. They won the opening doubles of the five-match tie, through Doo and Lee Ho-ching, but lost the subsequent two singles matches and needed Zhu Chengzhu to win the crucial fourth match to make it 2-2.
Lee then lost to Linda Bergstrom in the decider, and Hong Kong were dealt a premature exit at the South Paris Arena by the No 15 seeds.
“The loss was on me because I lost my singles match,” said Doo, who went down 3-2 to world No 58 Christina Kallberg despite holding a two-game lead. “My coach gave me this assignment and I was confident, too.
“The 2-0 lead came too easy but some sudden changes caught me off guard and that put me in a passive state. My opponent was playing better and better later on but I didn’t do too well.”
Although Doo failed to add the point to Hong Kong’s tally, head coach Li Ching did not play the blame game afterwards.
