HK badminton, boccia aces close in on medal rounds
Hong Kong, China's badminton and boccia players closed in on medals at the Paris Paralympics late on Saturday, though two swimming finalists missed out. In badminton, Daniel Chan, a bronze medalist in Tokyo, will take on South Korea's Yu Sooyoung in the semi-final of the men's WH2 on Sunday after comfortably topping his group by beating rivals from Chile and Malaysia. Chu Man-kai, the top seed in the men's SH6 competition after taking silver in Tokyo, won all three pool games to earn himself a bye through the quarter-finals. He beat opponents from Britain, India and Indonesia to top Group A, and will go again in tonight's semi-finals. Two women's boccia players also secured semi-final places in the early hours of Sunday.  After topping her group in the women's individual BC4, Annie Cheung took control of her quarter-final, beating Laissa Polyana Teixeira of Brazil 4-1. Cheung is at her first Paralympics and next takes on  Malaysia's Noor Askuzaimey Mat Salim in the semi-final on Sunday evening. Ho Yuen-kei had to come from behind to win her BC3 quarter-final against Kla-Han Ladamanee of Thailand, scoring twice in the final end to seal a 3-2 victory. She next faces Kang Sunhee for a place in the final on Sunday evening.  Swimmers Tang Wai-lok and Andy Cheung missed out in the final of the men's  S14 200m freestyle, as Britain's William Ellard smashed the world record to take gold.  Tang, who won gold in the same event in the Rio 2016 Games, finished seventh while Cheung, who is making his Paralympic debut at the age of 19, finished eighth.  Ellard dominated from start to finish, taking more than a second off the record with a time of 1min 51.30 seconds. Nicholas Bennett of Canada and Australia's Jack Ireland took silver and bronze respectively. Hong Kong's Chan Yui-lam and Cheung Ho-ying bowed out in the semi-finals of the equivalent women's event. The S14 category is for swimmers with intellectual disabilities.  Tang will be back in action in the S14 100m backstroke and the SM14 200m medley.  Hong Kong's sole para athletics representative, Yam Kwok-fan, missed out on a place in the final of the women's T36 200 metres, finishing fifth in her heat. She's got the 100m coming up later in the week. Elsewhere in boccia, Hong Kong's Leung Yuk-wing saw his campaign end at the quarter-final stage in the men's individual BC4 event. After finishing second in his group, he was beaten 6-1 by Britain's Stephen McGuire in the early hours of Sunday. He'll be back later in the mixed doubles. In the women's BC2 competition, Yeung Hiu-lam was beaten by Britain's Claire Taggart 3-2 in the quarter-final. Later on Sunday, John Loung of Hong Kong takes on Huadpradit Witsanu of Thailand in men's BC1 quarter-final._____________________________
Last updated: 2024-09-01 HKT 04:28 