Wei Nan Promoted to the Main Draw of the YONEX-SUNRISE Hong Kong Open Badminton Championships
YONEX-SUNRISE Hong Kong Open Badminton Championships has started today (21 Nov) at the Hong Kong Coliseum. 7 Hong Kong players have been promoted to the main draw, including the 33-year-old veteran Wei Nan who has a huge comeback beating the Thai opponent who is 14 years younger after 2 qualifying rounds.
Hong Kong team has some striking performance in the qualifying rounds this morning and afternoon. In Men’s Singles, Wei Nan got through the first qualifying round easily as his opponent Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia retired due to injury when he was losing 11: 17 in the first game. Wei later confronted the real challenge. He lost the first game by 12:21 to the 19-year-old Thai player Kantaphon Wangcharoen. Wei made a comeback by 21:15, 21:15 and secured his place in the Men’s Singles main draw. He said, ‘I lost to Wangcharoen earlier in Thailand Open. The victory means a lot to me. Badminton demands a lot of strength. However, skills and mentality are more important. There are top players who are older than me, like Lin Dan, Lee Chong Wei. I didn’t get the chance to go to Olympics last year. My target will be Tokyo Olympics.’
The other Hong Kong Men’s Singles player Lee Cheuk Yiu was also the focus of today’s competition. Lee won the Men’s Singles’ title in New Zealand Open Grand Prix Gold in August and entered top 8 in China Open just 2 days ago. He spent 33 minutes to beat Daren Liew of Malaysia by 21: 14, 21: 16 in the first round. However, he didn’t get into the main draw as he lost to indian player Kashyap Parupalli by 21:14, 21:16 in the second round after leading 5:1 in the first game. Lee said, ‘After China Open, I am in good shape. I expected to have some good results back home. Maybe I have too many thoughts. I will participate more Grand Prix Gold competition next year. Hopefully, I can improve my world ranking and catch up with Ng Ka Long.’
More Hong Kong players have entered the main draw of Women’s Singles and Doubles including: Leung Yuet Yee, Chow King Ling, NG Tsz Yau/YEUNG Nga Ting and NG Wing Yung/YUEN Sin Ying. The games start at 9am.
Hong Kong Olympics representatives Lee Chun Hei/Chau Hoi Wah will play against Kim Won Ho/Shin Seung Chan of Korea at 8:20pm in the Mixed Doubles event tonight.