Hong Kong narrowly beaten by England in semis of World Squash Team Championships
HK women will play top seeds Egypt for the bronze medal
Joey Chan Ho-ping stunned world number five Alison Waters but the result was still not good enough to send Hong Kong through as they were narrowly beaten by England 2-1 in the Women's World Team Squash Championships semi-finals in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Canada.
Reaching their first last four in the biggest team competition, Hong Kong needed to overcome the world powerhouses for a place in the final, but despite an exceptional performance from Chan, the world number 23, they were still second best against the English women, who have now reached their 11 straight final where they will take on Malaysia, headed by world number one Nicol David.
After Annie Au Wing-chi lost 3-0 to Laura Massaro, the current world number two, in the opening match, Chan pulled one back with her empathetic 3-1 win (11-4, 8-11, 11-9, 11-3) over Waters. But youngster Tong Tsz-wing found Sarah-Jane Perr too difficult to handle in the decider, the 22-year-old losing 3-1 (10-12, 11-5, 11-3, 11-8).
Chan, who has not lost a match in the tournament, said the victory against such a top player was something for her to remember, though it was not her best ever performance.
“It’s the first time for me [beating Waters], I only got her to 3-2 once,” said Chan. “Every time I play Waters, she plays at such a pace that I make a lot of errors, too many errors. What made the difference today, was that I was able to keep the errors down.
“It’s not the best squash I ever played, but it’s my most beautiful victory because I took a point back for my team.”
Hong Kong will now meet top seed Egypt in the bronze medal playoff after they lost to Malaysia, the third seeds.
