The Hong Kong men's foil team settled for bronze on Wednesday after losing to South Korea at the Asian Games.
Edgar Cheung, Ryan Choi, Yeung Chi-ka and Nicholas Choi put up a strong fight, but were beaten 37-45 in the semi-finals.
"I think we were probably just nervous because this is a huge event. I am sad but I don't see it as a pity that we lost. I believe that our team could have beaten them and it wouldn't have been hard," Cheung told HOY TV.
"I think we have the ability but we didn't perform our best today. It is a good lesson for us. We need to stay fully alert next time, especially since every accumulated point matters at the Olympics."
South Korea were to battle China for gold.