Hong Kong, China’s table tennis duo Wong Chun-ting and Doo Hoi-kem on Friday bowed out of the WTT Finals, losing a closely fought battle against the national team’s Olympic champions Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha.

Entering their final group match with one win and one loss, the world No. 5 mixed doubles pair from the SAR faced a must-win against Wang and Sun at the Hong Kong Coliseum.

The two pairs last faced each other at the ITTF Mixed Team World Cup last month, where Wong and Doo fell 3-0.

This time, the SAR duo started strong, taking the opening game 11-9.

Wang and Sun stormed back to claim the next two games 11-5 and 11-4.

Wong and Doo responded with a dominant 7-0 start in the fourth game before sealing it 11-1 to force a deciding fifth game.

In the decider, Wong’s missed backhand loop at 10-11 resulted in a 3-2 win for Wang and Sun, ending the tournament for the SAR pair.

Wang and Sun topped the group with three wins and advanced to the knockouts alongside their teammates Lin Shidong and Kuai Man.

South Korea’s Lim Jong-hoon and Shin Yu-bin, along with Japan’s Sora Matsushima and Miwa Harimoto, secured the remaining semifinal spots in the other group.