Max Lee and Annie Au settle for bronze in Asian Games squash singles
Hong Kong pair look back ruefully at a host of lost opportunities as they fail to go past the semi-finals and make do with third place
It was sour all round for squash yesterday as they saw gold and silver medal dreams in the singles turn to dust with Max Lee Ho-yin and Annie Au Wing-chi losing their semi-final matches.
Both will return home with bronze medals - a first bronze in the men's competition since Faheem Khan's 1998 Bangkok performance - but deep inside they will know they squandered golden opportunities to grab a more lustrous colour.
Lee had the chance to make Hong Kong history and become the first man to win a squash gold medal or silver at the Asian Games, but a stubborn opponent Abdullah Al-Mezayen dashed his hopes with a 6-11, 11-8, 4-11, 11-6, 11-8 victory in a thrilling semi-final.
The Kuwaiti will meet Saurav Ghosal of India in the final.
I had difficulty getting used to the court and the bounce and it was one reason why I couldn't do as well as I had hoped
"I'm really disappointed that I could not beat him. I have played him twice before and lost to him on both occasions 3-2. I thought I could do it this time and go for gold," said Lee, 25, after a battle that lasted more than an hour.