Hong Kong reach semi-finals of Women's World Team Squash Championships
Best-ever result sees manager Rebecca Chiu's team take on England for place in the final
Hong Kong reached the Women’s World Team Squash Championships semi-finals for the first time after beating the United States 2-1 in Niagara-on-the-lake, Canada.
Both Joey Chan Hoi-ling and Annie Au Wing-chi won their matches in straight games in the best-of-three format against the Americans before Tong Tsz-wing lost in the dead rubber.
Chan beat Olivia Blatchford in the opening tie 11-6, 11-2, 11-7, while Au defeated up-and-coming Amanda Sobhy 14-12, 11-6, 11-2.
“We have made history,” said team manager Rebecca Chiu Wing-yin, the former world number 13.
“The players have played really well, some better than we expected. Au did a good job today as we didn’t expect her to win 3-0 against Sobhy, one of the fast-improving players on the circuit.
“Our best result before was a place in the quarter-finals and the achievement here will be important to the future of Hong Kong squash.”
Hong Kong finished first in the pool stage with a dramatic 2-1 win over rivals France to qualify for the quarters, giving them a better seeding to reach the last four.
They will now take on second seeds England for a place in the final. They cruised to a 3-0 over Ireland.
“Their top two players are ranked second and fifth in the world and we’ll need an exceptional performance to beat them,” said head coach Tony Choi Yuk-kwan,
The other semi-final features top seed Egypt and Malaysia.
