The first ever Hong Kong Racketlon Open has marked its opening today at Craigengower
Cricket Club, a prestigious club at the crowded center of Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. The
club is well-decorated with high-standard facilities of table tennis, badminton, squash and
tennis, which made the racketlon experience more satisfying for everyone.
The challenger event attracted 70 players to join this year, in a total of 17 categories. After
an action-packed day one, the finalists of Men A doubles, Women A doubles, Mixed A
doubles have been revealed.
In Men A doubles, first-seeded Steven Cheng Wai-kit/Kevin Ng Ho-ching cruised to the finals
after defeating fellow Hong Kong China teammates Bridge Lam Yan-Kiu/Bryan Leung and
Fung Tsz-cheong/Ho Tsz-ho. The other side of the draw was more eventful. Mouchet
Mandrin from France paired up Hong Kong China’s Ho Chu-him for the first time and clicked
right away. They defeated Austria’s Urban Stefan and Windbacher Matthias with a
comfortable margin in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals they faced Hong Kong China’s
Samuel Li Chung-him/Cheung Chun. The table tennis game was a close contest in which
Mouchet/Ho won 21-15. Despite Mouchet’s superiority in badminton, Li/Cheung’s pair
managed to clinch a win in badminton by 21-16 in an exhilarating match. Ho continued his
dominance in squash and leading his team to win by 21-11. Mouchet/Ho’s pair finally
managed to reach 11 points in another exciting tennis game which was sufficient for them to
book a place in Men A Doubles finals.
In Women A doubles, favourites Joyce Chan Tsz-yan/Elif Wong were through to the finals
with an easy victory over fellow teammates Lui Wan-yin/Pamela Lee Shiu-wai in the
semifinals. Their opponents in finals will be USA/Hong Kong China pairing Stephanie
Chung/Kath Chan, who defeated Chim Ho-ki/Ho Suet-ying in the semi-finals (21-6, 8-21,
21-16, 15-7). Joyce Chan and Kevin Ng continued their fine form in Mixed A Doubles. The
World Championships Mixed B doubles title holders got into finals with comfortable win over
Cindy Ho Sin-ming/Urban Stefan. Ho Suet-ying/Ho Tze-ho overcame Stephanie
Chung/Bridge Lam Yan-kiu pair in a close battle (14-21, 21-12, 21-13, 12-14), and will be
challenging Chan/Ng pair for Mixed A Doubles title tomorrow.
In the Age categories, Chan Tsz-chung/Samuel KS Li clinched their first senior 40+ Doubles
title by defeating Singapore/Indonesia pair Feng Da-wei/Pua Masykur by 21-13, 16-21,
21-13- 11-4. Elsewhere in 60+ singles, Chan Chi-ming, the first Hong Kong Chinese player
to have played racketlon back in 2006, was crowned champion after defeating old teammate
Ho Kwok-tai and deputee Yeung Tak-keung. Yiu Cheuk Hei and Kyros Lie-A-Cheong were
crowned champions in Juniors U13 and U21 Singles categories respectively.
Day two promised to be yet another fulfilling day of racketlon with champions of Elite
Doubles categories to be decided, as well as the commencement of other Singles
categories. Stay tuned with us for more updated report.
Victor Wong / Secretary Hong Kong China Racketlon Association