Nail-biting fencing loss caps Asian Games Day 4
Hong Kong barely missed out on gold for the women's epee team event in the team's first-ever trip to the Asian Games final, after losing to South Korea 36-34 on Wednesday.  The SAR added six medals to their tally on day four – with three silvers and three bronzes. The epee team of Vivian Kong, Kaylin Hsieh, Natalie Chan and Moonie Chu battled until the final seconds, and despite defeat, it was the team's best-ever result. With a four-point deficit entering the final frame, Kong rallied against last year's individual world champion, Song Sera, trailing just one point with six seconds to go. But Song then won in the final seconds 2-1 for the top spot on the podium. Struggling to hold back what she insisted were "tears of joy", Kong said after the match that she's thankful for everyone's support. She told HOY TV that they will train harder to try to beat the world’s top-ranked team next time. “We've always worked hard, in the past we feel we have some distance behind South Korea, the world number one. But this time, we realised that we're actually not that far away from them. So, I hope I can do better." Kaylin Hsieh, the reigning World University Games champion, also said she was proud of her team. "Before the bout we're very excited, we're on a mission. We gave everything we had for every point, we screamed our lungs out. We showed everyone that we have the fighting spirit."  Chan, who in the fifth period lost 6-2, in what turned out to be a decisive deficit, said she felt sad about the exchange but that she could still feel strong support from her team. Also on the piste, the men's foil team settled for bronze after also losing to South Korea, who eventually took home the gold. Edgar Cheung, Ryan Choi, Yeung Chi-ka and Nicholas Choi put up a strong fight, but were beaten 37-45 in the semi-finals. Cheung said the team will now set their sights on the Paris Olympics next year. "I think we were probably just nervous because this is a huge event. I am sad but I don't see it as a pity that we lost. I believe that our team could have beaten them and it wouldn't have been hard." "I think we have the ability but we didn't perform our best today. It is a good lesson for us. We need to stay fully alert next time, especially since every accumulated point matters at the Olympics,” he added. Elsewhere, Hong Kong took home three medals in sailing and windsurfing. The final day of races were cancelled due to a lack of wind, so the medals were decided based on results from previous races. Sailing star Stephanie Norton grabbed silver in the women's single dinghy with an overall score of 37 points, edging Singapore's Victoria Chan by just one point. In the women's iQFoil event, Ma Kwan-ching came second on the back of a rock-solid performance throughout the competition, and Cheng Ching-yin won a bronze for the SAR in the men’s iQFoil. In the velodrome, the women's pursuit cycling team grabbed a bronze medal for Hong Kong by defeating South Korea. Lee Sze-wing, Yang Qianyu, Leung Bo-yee and Leung Wing-yee completed the race in just under four minutes 29 seconds. In football, the men's team are through to the quarterfinals for the first time at the Asian Games in 65 years. They defeated Palestine 1-0, and will play Iran next. But on the tennis court, Coleman Wong bowed out of the quarterfinals, losing 6-4, 4-6 and 3-6 to South Korea's Hong Seongchan. After four days of competition, China top the table with 76 gold, 43 silver and 21 bronze medals, followed by South Korea and Japan. Hong Kong are now sixth in the standings behind Thailand, with five gold, eight silver and 14 bronze medals.