Hong Kong table tennis stars Doo Hoi-kem and Wong Chun-ting will play for a mixed doubles bronze medal at the Paris Olympics, after losing to North Korea's pair 3-4 in the semi-finals.

It was an up and down match, with Ri Jong-sik and Kim Kum-yong, the lowest seed in this tournament, starting with a bang and taking the first game 3-11.

Doo and Wong then took the second game 12-10.

The fourth-seeded Hong Kong pair then had a 2-1 edge after winning the third game 11-3. But they dropped the next two, 9-11, 9-11.

With their backs against the wall at the South Paris Arena, Doo and Wong went on to win the sixth game 11-9 to force a decider.

That's when the North Koreans went on the attack, as they jumped out to a 7-0 lead behind Ri's strong forehand smashes.

The SAR pair fought their way back to make it 6-9, before eventually dropping the final game 6-11.

The North Korean giant killers had started the tournament defeating the world number two pair, Hina Hayata and Tomokazu Harimoto of Japan, in the first round.

The SAR duo will face South Korea's Shin Yu-bin and Lim Jong-hoon, who lost to China's top-seeded Sun Yingsha and Wang Chuqin in the other semi-final.

Speaking after the match, Wong said they gave it their all.

"Facing these North Koreans, they're the so-called dark horses. But any team in the final four has to be very good. So actually, when we faced them, we felt we were the dark horses," he told reporters.

"So on the table, we fought until the very end, but we failed. We will collect ourselves for the bronze medal match and hopefully we can win a medal for Hong Kong."

The bronze medal match will take place on Tuesday at 7:30pm Hong Kong time.