Table tennis mixed doubles hopes alive after Canadians beat Aussies, Kiwis

Canada’s hopes in table tennis mixed doubles will live another day after two Canadian combinations won both their morning matches as well as both their afternoon matches Wednesday, earning berths in the fourth round set for Thursday.

Wednesday morning, Eugene Wang (Ottawa, Ont.) and Mo Zhang (Vancouver, B.C.) beat Mauritius 3-0 (11:3, 11:7, 11:2) while teammates Andre Ho (Richmond, B.C.) and Anqi Luo (Mississauga, Ont.) beat Botswana 3-0 (11:1, 11-4, 11-2).

In the afternoon, Wang and Zhang beat Australia 3-0 (11-4, 11-9, 15-13) while Ho and Luo beat New Zealand 3-0 (13-11, 11-5, 11-6).

The afternoon matches were closer than the 3-0 score suggests.

“It looks easy, 3-0, but the last two sets we won by just two points so I wouldn’t say it was easy,” said Wang. “The feeling is coming slowly, but we’re still not playing our best yet.”

Luo and Ho said they started off nervously as they often do, but then managed to relax and play well.

“I think that the chemistry between me and my partner was quite good today,” said Ho. “I think we played like we normally do in training. We were quite nervous at the beginning but after we got the rhythm we were more relaxed, it was just like another match.

“Obviously the next round, we’re playing a seed higher than us so it’s going to be difficult, but at the same time it’s no pressure on us. We’re the ones that are going to try to make an upset, so for us no pressure.”

Canada’s third mixed doubles combination of Pierre-Luc Thériault (Rimouski, Que.) and Betty Guo (Edmonton, Alta.) did not advance after losing to Wales 3-0 in the second round this morning.