Hong Kong plans to win a table tennis medal at the Beijing Olympic Games to repeat its Athens glory in 2004, a coach said on Thursday.
Li Huifen, head coach of Hong Kong's women's team, said that "one Olympic medal will be OK, no matter from the men's side or the women's."
The duo of Ko Lai Chak and Li Ching were the runners-up in the men's doubles in Athens, while Hong Kong women finished second twice at the world championships in Doha and Bremen.
But Li said that her team is having a hard time because its players, such as 10th-ranked Tie Yana and No. 14 Lin Ling, are under pressure.
Hong Kong's top woman Jiang Huajun, singles champion in the 2007 Asian Cup, didn't make it to Beijing, which was a heavy blow to the team, Li said.
As for a possible meeting with the star-studded Chinese national women's team, Li said that "winning one rubber would be good enough."
However, Hong Kong chef de mission Fok Tsun-Ting said at the Olympic Village on Thursday that "our players are in good form and we hope to make breakthroughs in table tennis."
(Xinhua News Agency August 8, 2008)