Hong Kong’s athletes were sent to the Asian Games in Japan this month with the demand they “achieve even greater success, bringing more glory to the country and Hong Kong” and the weight of a city’s considerable expectations on their shoulders.

In this instance, greater success is surpassing the record 53 medals won in Hangzhou three years ago, although the message might also have been “look at how much money we give you, don’t disappoint us”.

Whether the 580 sportsmen and women tasked with amassing more than the eight gold, 16 silver and 29 bronze bagged last time succeed, depends entirely on the events of the next five days.

So far, the tally stands at 35; five gold, 12 silver, 18 bronze. A quiet Tuesday for Hong Kong, when athletics came to its predictably fruitless conclusion, was enlivened by the cyclists winning bronze in the men’s team sprint.

If the medal count is to be beaten, never mind the number of golds, then there is a lot riding on the likes of cyclist Ceci Lee Sze-wing, the city’s golfers, the men’s rugby sevens team, the men’s and women’s squash teams, sailor Nicholas Halliday and tennis star Coleman Wong Chak-lam.

Of those, Wong would appear to be under considerably more pressure than most, simply because a failure to secure any podium spot is expected to put future funding for the city’s tennis association in doubt.

With rain once again causing chaos in Nagoya, Wong finally began his men’s singles tournament with a routine 6-4, 6-1 victory over Jordan’s Zaid Al-Mashni.

Far greater challenges lie ahead; on Wednesday he must overcome Japan’s Yosuke Watanuki, who won silver three years ago while Wong was losing in the quarter-finals.

Rugby sevens, where Hong Kong’s men are looking for a third straight gold, and Lee’s time at the Izu Velodrome both begin on Thursday, while golfer Taichi Kho begins the defence of his individual title a day earlier.

All involved know what it means to compete and win under pressure, something Siobhan Haughey, who won two golds and two silvers at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre last week, called “a privilege”.

Table tennis player Doo Hoi-kem had a rather different take after she and partner Pedrey Ng Wing-lam won women’s doubles bronze on Monday. It was debutant Ng’s first medal at the Games, and it was Doo’s first since a women’s team bronze in 2018.

“Of course, we could have done better, but in the end, winning a bronze medal in the women’s doubles still makes us very happy,” Doo said. “I hope people will not always judge or write us off solely based on results.”Gymnastics might consider itself lucky not to have been judged on results over the past decade, but Ng Ka-ki’s unexpected bronze in the men’s vault will ensure its continued existence as a Tier A sport at the Hong Kong Sports Institute (HKSI).

Before Ng’s performance, Stone Shek Wai-hung’s gold at the 2018 Games in Jakarta was the only medal the city’s gymnasts managed in the previous eight years.

Maybe the key in this instance is in taking responsibility away from the HKSI and local coaches, and handing it over to those running the China national team, who spent two months in Beijing before the Games knocking Ng into shape.

“Their trials created a very good environment and helped me prepare better for this competition,” Ng said.

It could be the answer for the city’s track and field team too. The problems developing athletes in Hong Kong stretch back years, and were perfectly highlighted in Japan by the disqualification of the women’s and mixed teams in their respective 4x100m relays and Tiffany Yue Nga-yan’s performance in the long jump.

Yue’s bronze in Hangzhou must feel like a lead weight at times, setting what may have been unreasonable expectations on her shoulders.

Still, as a paid athlete, going from hitting 6.50 metres in 2023, to not clearing 6.00m this season until your third jump in the final, is as concerning as two relay teams being DQ’d because they could not get the baton change right.

As you might expect, there were moments of individual achievement. Vincent Lam and Lo Ying-chiu both ran season-best times in the men’s and women’s marathon, while racewalker Chin Man-kit finished fifth in his half-marathon.

But Hong Kong sent 38 track and field athletes to Nagoya, and of the 11 that took part in medal events, only three had qualifying rounds: Lin Mingfu in the men’s long jump, Yip King-wai in the men’s 200m and Shing Cho-yan in the women’s 100m hurdles.

Needless to say, none came close to making the podium, and the loss of Tier A status, which could be triggered after four years of collective failure, should come with a complete overhaul of those running the sport in the city.

Others have nervous waits too, and not just in seeing if the medal count can be matched or even bettered. The city’s equestrians also technically need a medal, while even those sports that did get one might be looking over their shoulders.

Before the Games, triathlon head coach Andrew Wright complained about governing bodies not setting the bar high enough. In his case, it’s not the bar that is the problem, a second team bronze cannot mask the fact individual success appears as far away as ever.

But expectations ebb and flow depending on the sport, and it will need some athletes to defy those if the greater success Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu had called for is to be achieved by the closing ceremony on Sunday.