VICTOR Hong Kong Open closed the curtain following all the events completed on 17th. Head coach Tim He Yi Ming said after the tournament that Hong Kong players made some excellent performance, especially prodigy Jason Gunawan in the men’s singles and Tang Chun Man/Tse Ying Suet in the mixed doubles. The head coach said the players were able to use the tournament to improve their form and condition and as part of build-up for the Asian Games so that they can take up greater challenges in Hangzhou.
Tang/Tse pair suffered some difficulties last year with Tse missing several events because of injuries. Their results were hardly impressive even after she had recovered and started in the world tour again. Their rankings also slipped from top 10 to outside top 20. Before the start of the Hong Kong Open, they were ranked 23rd . However, the two players were able to deliver at the home event by capturing a silver medal. The coach said he was impressive. “They should improve their ranking after the tournament with such a good result,” the coach said. “It will be a strong support to the mixed doubles duo as they can feel they are coming back. It’s very difficult to come back after going downward. Many players cannot do that but not our mixed doubles pair. It shows our coaching team can help the players.”
Tang Chun Man/Tse Ying Suet
Another player that has won the applause of the coach is young prodigy Jason. The world ranked 146th men’s singles player overcame two hurdlers in the qualification before beating a world ranked 33rd player in the main draw. In the second round, he only lost to a world ranked 24th player who needed three games to beat the youngster. He said the experience would help Jason improve.
“He did so well in the tournament and lost only because of a lack of experience. He has already proved he can do it and will not cast any doubt on his own future. The tournament has given him sufficient confidence so that the youngster can continue to improve”
Jason Gunawan
The coach also said both the men’s and women’s doubles had showed marked improvement but still need to put in more effort to close the gap against the more experienced. He said the tournament had attracted a lot of people with a better atmosphere than before. Hopefully with such support from the fans, the players can be more committed to their future and be more confident to strive for opportunities.
With the Hong Kong Open being moved from the previous slot in November to September, He said some of the players missed the tournament because the new date might be too close to the Asian Games opening ceremony on Sep 23. However, this was hardly a problem for the Hong Kong players. “We take the tournament as our warm-up event before the Asian Games and the players should find their form have improved through the competition,” He said. “Our players have done a good job and are ready to take bigger challenge.”
Regarding any target set for Hong Kong players in the Hangzhou Games, the coach said the target should always be winning medals for players. “The most important aspect is to perform your own standard and whether that can help you win a medal is another matter, but as a player, you must believe you can do it,” the coach said.
The Hangzhou Asian Games will begin with its opening ceremony on Sep 23 with badminton events kicking off five days later. The two team events will start first with the first four days for the two team events while individual events will start on Oct 2.
