No place in the main draw, beaten by India’s Harmeet Desai in the qualification stage of proceedings earlier this year in Spain; Hong Kong’s Ho Kwan Kit emerged as the surprise winner of the Men’s Singles event at the GAC Group 2014 ITTF World Tour Philippines Open in Subic Bay on Sunday 18th May.

The success means that he emulates the efforts of Korea’s Lee Sangsu and Japan’s Masato Shiono by starting proceedings in the group stage of affairs and progressing to secure the title.

Lee Sangsu achieved the feat in Slovenia in 2010, Masato Shiono one year ago on home soil in Japan.

A Step Further 

However, 17 year old Ho Kwan Kit has taken the achievement one step further; he is the first player to win an ITTF World Tour Men’s Singles title and at the time of the success possess no World ranked.

Ho Kwan Kit has carved his own niche in the annals of table tennis.

Latter Stages
At the semi-final stage he beat Singapore’s Yang Zi, the no.3 seed (11-6, 6-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-4) before overcoming Zhan Jian, the no.1 seed and also from Singapore in the final (9-11, 11-7, 11-4, 11-8, 9-11, 12-10).

In the counterpart semi-final, Zhan Jian beat Korea’s Kim Junghoon, the no.3 seed (11-7, 13-11, 11-6, 11-8).

No Expectations
"This competition was very tough, I did not have any expectations or baggage coming into the event which helped; I had a lot of luck to win”, said Ho Kwan Kit. “At the beginning of the competition, it did not even go through my head that I could win the event; my plan was just to try my best in each match and see what happened.”

The plan most certainly worked and worked to perfection.

Well Prepared
“This event gives me a lot of confidence, it is a very important chapter in my career”, added Ho Kwan Kit. “I am looking forward to coming back to Philippines to defend my title; I had a great time here.”

Furthermore, it would seem that Ho Kwan Kit was well prepared for the battle.

“The reason that I have not been playing in international events is that I have been in intensive training in China for the past five years and have just recently returned to my homeland of Hong Kong”, added Ho Kwan Kit. “I plan to keep on playing ITTF events, as this is now my life, I want to become the best player possible.”

Definite Goal
Also Ho Kwan Kit has a definite goal.

“As I am still a junior I would love to go to the World Junior Championships in Shanghai”, concluded Ho Kwan Kit. “However there are six good juniors in Hong Kong, and only five will go, so let’s see; hopefully my performance today will help."

Second Player from Homng Kong
Ho Kwan Kit becomes only the second ever player from Hong Kong to win an ITTF world Tour Men’s Singles title, the other is Jiang Tianyi, in 2008 he won the Men’s Singles title at the Brazilian Open in Belo Horizonte.

Article by: ITTF - Ian Marshall
Video : Highlights from the Men's Singles final in Subic Bay