Hong Kong double in Kowloon finals
By SEAN REUTHE
Hong Kong’s Chi Him Wong and Malaysia’s Andrea Lee took the Men’s and Women’s Contrex Challenge Cup, PSA M5 & W5 titles, respectively after emerging victorious from their final clashes in the Kowloon Cricket Club in Hong Kong.
Chi, the defending champion and number one seed, came up against compatriot Tang Ming Hong in the final after enjoying a fine tournament that saw him drop just one game, to fifth seed Tsun Hei Yuen, in the last eight.
Tang, meanwhile, opened up with two 3-0 wins, but was pushed all the way to five games by tournament surprise package Yeung Ho Wai in his semi-final encounter.
World No.99 Chi had won the last two meetings between the pair and wasted no time in asserting himself on the fixture as he held off any attempts from Tang to build up momentum, duly taking a one-game lead.
Despite Tang’s attempts to claw his way back into the contest, Chi remained composed and dropped just three points in the second game before powering to victory in the third to wrap up an 11-8, 11-3, 11-5 triumph which sees him lift his second PSA World Tour title.
“I am truly happy to defend my title since Tang had a tough match last night, I guess that might have been an advantage for me,” said Chi.
“The victory definitely gives me lots of confidence as I did not play very well in the previous tournaments this year, and I hope I can have better performances in the future.”
The Women’s final saw World No.131 Lee take on top seed Lee Ka Yi in a fiercely contested three-game battle.
Neither player could pull away in the opening exchanges and they shared the spoils after a series of well-constructed and patient rallies until Lee managed to reel off some winners to take game one and then doubled her advantage with victory on the second game tie-break.
With Ka Yi beginning to feel the fatigue after a gruelling five-game semi-final fixture the day before, Lee ramped up the pressure and the 17-year-old closed out the final game to seal the win by an 11-9, 13-11, 11-6 margin, securing her first PSA World Tour title in the process.
2016 Contrex Challenge Cup 2016, Kowloon Cricket Club, Hong Kong.
Men’s Final:
[1] Chi Him Wong (HKG) bt [3] Tang Ming Hong (HKG) 3-0: 11-8, 11-3, 11-5.
Women’s Final:
[7] Andrea Lee (MAS) bt [1] Lee Ka Yi (HKG) 3-0: 11-9, 13-11, 11-6.
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