Doo Hoi-kem, Hong Kong’s teen table tennis sensation, has reached the semi-finals of the Asian Olympic qualifier after beating Korean rival Jeon Jihee 4-0 earlier today.
Yesterday, the 19-year-old casually defeated Liu Shiwen, the top-ranking female table tennis player in the world.
She modestly told the SCMP: “It was easier than I thought when I beat Jeon.”
We’re glad to see Doo’s success hasn’t gone to her head… Just kidding. Keep making us proud, Doo-d!
Doo, who is 25th in the world rankings, annihilated world number 15 Jeon 11-5, 11-9, 11-8, and 13-11. The match lasted just over 40 minutes.
Following her performance in the qualifiers, Doo seems optimistic for the semi-finals:
“The semi-final will be a real test. But now anything can happen after beating the world number one.”
Let’s hope Doo doesn’t get too ahead of herself. Her next opponent is 2012 Olympic champion Li Xiaoxia from China, world number five. Li has already beaten her compatriot Zhu Yuling, world number three.
Sadly, Doo’s Hong Kong teammate Lee Ho-ching has had less success. Lee lost 4-1 to Kasumi Ishikawa of Japan.
