HONG KONG—The highlight of round one of the Cathay Pacific Sun Hung Kai Financial Hong Kong Open 2017 was that local hero Max Lee, who made history to be the first Hong Kong men’s player to reach the semi-finals last year, pulled off another impressive performance in front of the home crowd. This time against two-time champion Mohamed Elshorbagy, before losing in a gruelling five setter. Lee levelled the match twice to push the Egyptian into a decider. However, the former world No.1 showed all his experience in having the better finish to close out the match 11-7, 2-11, 12-10, 10-12, 11-4.
In the women’s first round, Joey Chan was the first home player to secure her second round appearance, after claiming a 3-0 victory 11-9, 11-2, 11-9 against England’s Emily Whitlock.
