In the Women’s Singles, fifth seed Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand sent home Chiu Pin-Chian of Chinese Taipei with a straight game victory as the 2018 Hong Kong Open silver medallist praised the atmosphere of Coliseum, saying the support of many Thai fans made her like playing at home. Former world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore accounted for his Danish opponent to reach his first Men’s Singles quarter-finals in Hong Kong. However, home pair of Hung Kuei Chun/Tsang Hiu Yan was eliminated in the Mixed Doubles round of 16.
Seeded players took to the courts in the morning session, including Women’s Singles top seed Wang Zhi Yi and second seed Han Yue, both of China who both made through to the quarter-finals with a straight game win. World number 10 Intanon also had no difficulty of disposing Chiu, who ranks 13 places behind, in two games 21-15, 21-16 to reach the last eight. The two players also clashed in Hong Kong last year with Intanon also winning both first round games.
The Thai player exited in the opening stage of her last three tournaments and was happy to improve her form in Hong Kong in time, especially knowing many Thai fans coming to support her in the Hung Hom venue.
“I enjoy playing in Hong Kong, it’s so relaxed and believe I can have some good results here. But I won’t think too much like winning the title at this moment. I just want to play good games one by one with the fans’ support like playing at home,” she said.
In the Men’s Singles, fourth seed Loh, who scored a two-game win over Brian Yeung of Canada in the previous round, faced Rasmus Gemke of Denmark. Gemke came from behind to beat home favourite Lee Cheuk Yiu in the opening round but could do little against the Singaporean. Loh drew the first blood with a 21-16 win and although the Danes once built a 16-12 lead in the second, he was still able to come back to the table by winning the game 21-18 and the tie.
Loh said he did not think too much when he was trailing behind in the second game, just focusing on each point and keeping the shuttlecock in position. “It was not easy today but I knew clearly what I wanted to do,” he said. The 2021 world champion will now meet sixth seed Christo Popov of France. The Frenchman disposed Sholeh Aidil of Malaysia in straight games in another round of 16 match.
“It’s going to be a tough battle. Now I have reached the quarter-finals and hope I can do better here this time,” Loh said.
The home players said after the match the two Dames were just too strong. It was also the first time they faced such a high-ranking pair and all they wanted to do was to lose points as minimum as possible. But it was a good learning process for the home pair and hopefully they can make improvement after such a demanding test. “We have now experienced the quality of such top-class players and have to work harder if we want to be successful like them.”
Despite the defeat, the home pair said they had already exceeded their pre-tournament expectations and would have to focus back on their own event in upcoming competitions. Hung will rejoin his Men’s Doubles partner Lui Chun Wai as they prepare for the Indonesia and Kaohsiung tournaments later this month while Tsang will partner Lui Lok Lok in the Women’s Doubles for the China Masters and Korea Open.
