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| May 12, 2002 | Sunday | Safar 28, 1423 |
Minnows Hong Kong surprise Denmark
GUANGZHOU, May 11: Shanghai-born Wang Chen inspired badminton minnows Hong Kong to a memorable victory over Denmark and sent the European giants crashing out of the prestigious Uber Cup team tournament here Saturday.
Wang played sublime badminton to send All England champion Camilla Martin scrambling to all four corners of the court as she fought her way to a magnificent 7-5, 1-7, 4-1, 7-2 victory.
Martin even suffered the embarrassment of tripping over her own feet as she desperately tried to fight off Wang’s relentless attack in a bid to prevent the Danes losing their second straight match and almost certain elimination from the blue riband eight team event, but all to no avail.
After a closely fought first game, Martin exerted her dominance in the second to win 7-1 and looked set to run away with it.
But the former Chinese national player was made of sterner stuff and fired back acutely angled smashes and beautiful drops against an increasingly frustrated Martin.
Wang took the third and as Martin continued to rant and rave in the fourth game, Wang kept her cool to take it 7-2 and with it the match.
Hong Kong youngster Wang Ting Ling then dominated Christina Sorensen, winning in straight games leaving Koon Wai Chee to hold her nerve against Tine Hoy for a memorable win .
In a topsy-turvy match that could have gone either way, Koon went two games to one down and the Danes looked set for a comeback. Koon battled back to take the fourth 7-2 and in a nerve jangling finale, jumped for joy when Hoy’s final effort went wide.
Hong Kong with consecutive wins in their first two matches, look certain to qualify for a semifinal berth in group A.
Results (first round)
THOMAS CUP
Group A
China 2 Denmark 2
Group A
Korea 3 Sweden 0
UBER GROUP
Group A
Indonesia 1 Netherlands 2
Group A
Denmark 0 Hong Kong 3.
—AFP
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