Hong Kong’s women’s epee team narrowly missed out on a podium finish at the National Games on Tuesday, falling to Beijing 43-32 in the bronze medal match at Kai Tak Arena.

The SAR team, comprised of Kaylin Hsieh, Haidi Wu, Natalie Chan and substitute Moonie Chu, started strong.

They built an early lead across the first three bouts of the nine-round team match, only to see Beijing battle back to a 10-10 tie in the fourth.

From there, Beijing seized the momentum, steadily stretching their lead to 21-15 by the sixth round and 26-18 by the seventh.

A late substitution brought Chu into the fray for the eighth round, but the Hong Kong team was unable to close the gap, ultimately losing by 11 points.

The defeat followed a hard-fought 28-33 loss to Fujian in the semi-finals earlier in the day.

Despite the result, the team’s spirit remained high.

“This experience has taught us many valuable lessons,” said Hsieh after the match.

“This is only the second time our team has worked together, and with each competition, we have made progress and developed better chemistry.

“We never give up, so I am very proud of us because whether we were behind, even by a lot, or leading, we fought for every point.”

In other fencing action, Hong Kong’s men’s sabre team finished in sixth place.

The team, which included individual silver medallist Aaron Ho as a substitute alongside Low Ho-tin, Hugo Ho and Royce Chan, suffered a narrow 45-39 defeat to Shanxi in the fifth-place ranking match.

They had led for the majority of the contest, holding a 35-29 advantage in the seventh bout, before a stunning 11-point run from Shanxi in the eighth round turned the tide.

The men’s team had previously been eliminated in the quarter-finals by Shanghai, 35-45.