Hong Kong fencers took home silver in a nerve-racking women's Asian Games epee final loss, with a score of 36-34.

Vivian Kong, Kaylin Hsieh, Natalie Chan and Moonie Chu battled until the final seconds, and despite defeat, it was the team's best-ever result.

With a four-point deficit entering the final frame, Kong rallied against last year's individual world champion, Song Sera, trailing just one point with six seconds to go.

But Song then won in the final seconds 2-1 for the top spot on the podium.

Struggling to hold back what she insisted were "tears of joy", Kong said after the match that she's thankful for everyone's support and they will train harder to try to beat the world’s top-ranked team next time.

"We've always worked hard, in the past we feel we have some distance behind South Korea, the world number one," she told HOY TV.

"But this time, we realised that we're actually not that far away from them. So, I hope I can do better."

Kaylin Hsieh, the reigning World University Games champion, also said she was proud of her team.

"Before the bout we're very excited, we're on a mission. We gave everything we had for every point, we screamed our lungs out. We showed everyone that we have the fighting spirit." she said.

Chan, who in the fifth period lost 6-2 in what turned out to be a decisive deficit, said she felt sad about the exchange but that she could still feel strong support from her team.

Hong Kong had defeated Japan and Singapore in previous rounds en route to the final.