Hong Kong women go undefeated to reclaim Asian team squash title
- Quartet beat defending champions Malaysia in tense final in Korea, where they also won gold 4 years ago
- But men’s side can’t get into last two and finish third after losing to Kuwait
The Hong Kong women’s squash team reclaimed their Asian Team Championships title in Korea on Friday, gaining some measure of revenge against Malaysia, who beat them last year.
Hong Kong, who entered the tournament as the second seeds, were undefeated, with top players Simmi Chan Sin-yuk and Ho Tze-lok, as well as reigning Asian women’s champion Tong Tsz-wing and Lee Ka-yi providing formidable opposition.
The quartet blasted past India, Iran and Singapore in the group stage without dropping a game, and then outplayed the hosts in the semi-final in Cheongju.
Their first real test came in the final against top seeds Malaysia, who have won the championships 10 times and count world No 28 Rachel Arnold among their number.
Arnold though was no match for Chan, who is ranked six places below her, and while Ho lost a close tiebreaker, Lee saw off Malaysian teenager Yee Xin-ying as Hong Kong claimed the title for a fourth time.
“It [victory] was very special for two reasons,” Ho said. “First, Malaysia beat us in the final last year on their home soil, and we beat them to reclaim our trophy a year later.
“Second, we won the title four years ago in the same place [Cheongju] on the same court.
