Hong Kong, China is guaranteed both gold and silver in the squash mixed doubles at the Asian Games after both of its pairs won their semifinals, setting the SAR up beautifully for Sunday's final.

At the Nagoya Kinjo-Futo Arena, Lee Ka-yi and Donald Tang booked their place with a hard-fought 2-1 win over India’s Velavan Senthilkumar and Joshna Chinappa.

The 46-minute semifinal began with a tense opening game, which the Hong Kong pair edged 11-10.

India hit back emphatically in the second, taking it 11-2, but Lee and Tang regrouped for another tight, deciding game and held their nerve to win 11-10, sealing a spot in the final.

After the match, Lee said in a TV interview that they didn’t find their rhythm early on but pushed each other to persevere until the end.

"Even though we took the first game, our opponents adjusted their strategy really well. They made a lot of plays that cost us points, which widened the gap in the second game," she said.

"Luckily, we were able to come back in the third. We restrategised and reminded each other to persist until the end."

In the other semifinal, Toby Tse and Matthew Lai made it a Hong Kong one-two with a straight-games victory over Malaysia’s Rachel Arnold and Ameeshenraj Chandaran.

The Hong Kong pair needed just 21 minutes to win 11-10, 11-7.

The two SAR teams will meet in the final on Sunday at 1.30pm Hong Kong time.

With no third-place playoff, India and Malaysia will share the bronze.




Edited by Azam Khan