by Simon Daish
Drawn in Group D, Hong Kong will be tested by Korea Republic and Germany in the race to top the group with Thailand, Brazil and Luxembourg also providing opposition for the fourth seeds in the opening round.
Lee Ho Ching and Doo Hoi Kem will once again lead the line for Hong Kong; occupying top 20 world ranking positions, Lee Ho Ching and Doo Hoi Kem both carry significant experience at the top end of the sport and could prove crucial to the team’s chances of success in Halmstad.
Both players featured in action earlier this month at the LION 31st ITTF-ATTU Asian Cup Yokohama 2018 with differing fortunes: While a group stage exit signalled a disappointing campaign for Lee Ho Ching there were signs of encouragement for Doo Hoi Kem, who claimed a shock victory over Japan’s Miu Hirano on her way to a sixth position finish in the Women’s Singles competition.
The duo of Lee Ho Ching and Doo Hoi Kem will be accompanied at the upcoming World Team Championships by young up-and-coming stars Soo Wai Yam Minnie and Mak Tze Wing. Ng Wing Nam completes the player roster for Hong Kong.
Quarter-finals finishes at the Perfect 2016 World Team Championships and the 2016 Olympic Games, but Hong Kong’s form has been on the up ever-since: Bronze medallists at the 2017 ITTF-Asian Championships the Hong Kong’s women’s team replicated that result in February of this year at the 2018 ITTF Team World Cup in London, defeating European champions Romania by a 3-0 score-line along the way.
Not since 2006 has Hong Kong reached the Women’s Championship Division title match on the World Team Championships stage but could that be about to change in 2018?
