Tang Chun Man/Or Chin Chung: The Lefty Combination of Yang and Yin

There are not lefty combinations in Doubles event of badminton as their performance is not comprehensive. However, we have a left-handed pair in Hong Kong: 22 year-old Tang Chun Man and 23 year-old Or Chin Chung. The pair beat the Indonesian gold medalists of world championships last year and became famous.

Tang said, ‘The pros and cons of a lefty pair is obvious. There are not many of them. Lefties have strong forehand. Our opponent usually couldn’t adapt to our way of play at the beginning of a match.’

Tang and Or have been partners for 2 years only and already have some significant results. In last year’s Thomas Cup World Men’s Team Championships, They beat the Indonesian world champions Mohammad Ahsan/Hendra Setiawan in straight games as an underdog with world ranking No. 50. This year in Macau Grand Prix Gold, the two entered top 4 and their world ranking has risen to 27th. They will now set their target on the Asian Games next year and hopefully win the tickets to the Olympics.

Tang is one year younger than Or. Both of them started badminton training when they were a kid. Tang said, ‘When I was a kid, I watched badminton competitions on TV and the players were awesome. So I started playing in front of my house and later enrolled for training class.’ Or started playing badminton because of a desire to excel himself. He said, ‘I joined the badminton training in primary school. I was very lame. However, I want to win so I keep on training.’ Taufik and Lin Dan were the most famous players back then and also their idols.

The two young man had different partners in junior team and club team. Their characters are a Yang and Yin match. Or is powerful and fast. Tang is the calm one to control the rhythm of the match, do the analysis and create opportunities for his teammate to score. Or said, ‘I am impulsive on the court. He always back me up when I did wrong.’ Tang know the cons of lefty players, he said, ‘Our backhand is weak. We have to increase our speed and strengthen our offense and defense.’

Besides Men’s Doubles, Tang also plays Mixed Doubles with another left-handed player Tse Ying Suet. They are now world No.9 and took the gold in Denmark World Superseries after beating World No.1 Chinese pair Zheng Si Wei/Chen Qing Chen by 2:1. Tang has no concern on his strength to play both events. He said, ‘I am young and used to it. I have been doing this since I joined Hong Kong Team.

Every player dreams to be the world champion. Tang and Or have no exception. Although they lost in YONEX-SUNRISE Hong Kong Open Badminton Championships, they are still full of energy. They have set a list of goals: to reach world top 20, to participate in the Asian Games and eventually set foot on the Olympics.