Hong Kong swimmer Cindy Cheung has secured her spot in the women's 100-metre backstroke semifinals at the National Games after a strong performance in Tuesday's preliminaries.

Competing in the fifth heat at the Shenzhen Universiade Sports Centre, Cheung finished third in her race with a time of one minute and 1.61 seconds.

After being in fifth place at the halfway mark, she powered through the final 50 metres to clinch third place in her heat.

This effort placed her seventh overall in the preliminaries, comfortably within the top 16 who advance.

The semifinals are scheduled for 7.48pm tonight.

While Cheung moves on, her teammates Ashley Chan and Ho Pui-yan finished 43rd and 50th respectively and did not qualify for the next round.

Meanwhile, SAR swimmer Adam Mak will compete in the men's 100-metre breaststroke final at 7.00 pm tonight.

He earned his place alongside the top eight after finishing sixth overall in the semifinals with a time of one minute and 0.44 seconds.