Asian Games: 2 Malaysians lead Hong Kong's mission for historic men's medal

Hong Kong’s ambitions to add to their solitary medal at the Asian Games could be boosted by the recent success at the China Masters where two Malaysian coaches – Wong Choong Hann and Loh Wei Sheng played a pivotal role.

Jason Gunawan had beaten Lee Cheuk Yiu in an all Hong Kong final to win the Super 750 title, which was history in itself as no men’s singles shuttler from Hong Kong had ever secured a championship of that level.

Gunawan, now ranked 24th, had beaten illustrious names such as world number one Jonatan Christie and Anders Antonsen before overcoming his national team-mate for the title.

With Gunawan, Lee and the experienced Angus Ng in the men’s team, Wong and Loh will be confident of making history by reaching the podium.

Wong has done an amazing job with the Hong Kong national side since he took up the men’s singles coaching role in 2023, which also saw him earn promotion as the national team head coach a year later.

With Loh, a former Malaysian assistant women’s singles coach by his side, the duo are on their way to fulling a mission of developing a solid men’s singles unit.

Lee is ranked 19th, but the 24th ranked Gunawan could be poised to soon overtake him.

Ng is in the top 30 and may not have the physical endurance of both his compatriots, but at 32, he could well be the experienced figure both Malaysian coaches turn to.

At present, only former women’s singles shuttler Wang Chen has delivered a gold medal for Hong Kong at the 2006 Asian Games, which remains their only achievement in the history of this multi-sports event.