Hong Kong's women scored a nail-biting 2-1 victory over pool B favourites India at the Buler Asian Team Championships on Thursday, but coach Tony Choi Yuk-kwan still found room for criticism. Joey Chan Ho-ling rallied from a game down at the Hong Kong Squash Centre to beat India's top player Dipika Pallikal 3-2 (9-11, 12-10, 4-11, 11-7, 11-8). Liu Tsz-ling lost 3-1 (9-11, 8-11, 11-9, 6-11) to Joshna Chinappa as India levelled the tie but Tong Tsz-wing hung on to win the third tie 3-2 (10-12, 9-11, 11-6, 11-5, 11-7) against Anaka Alankamony. "She [Joey Chan] didn't do well when it came to making and returning service," was Choi's verdict, to which Chan agreed. "I gave away too many chances for [Dipika] to take advantage of my weak backhand and put me on the defensive, but I later made a tactical shift by using my forehand and putting it to work," she said. The victory consolidates Hong Kong's place at the top of the group after their wins over Pakistan and China on the opening day. They now face Iran, ranked seven places below them, in their last group match on Friday before Saturday's quarter-finals. In the men's competition, Hong Kong recovered from a disappointing 2-1 defeat by Kuwait on the first day to rout Taiwan and China in pool D. They play favourites Malaysia in the quarter-finals on Friday, with Choi estimating their chances of victory at 50-50.
