Hong Kong’s women’s épée squad pulled off a heart-stopping 33-30 victory over Shandong in the quarter-finals on Tuesday, riding a dramatic final-bout performance from Kaylin Hsieh Sin-yan to storm into the last four of the team event at the 15th National Games.
The match swung like a pendulum from the opening touches.
Hsieh struck first with a narrow 3-2 win, only for Chu Ka-mong to drop the second bout 2-4 and leave Hong Kong trailing 5-6.
Chan Wai-ling kept it tight with a 4-4 draw, but Shandong clung to a one-point lead at 10-9 after the first cycle.
The momentum flipped in the middle rounds. Chu leveled the score at 13-13, Hsieh traded evenly with her opponent to keep it tied at 16-16, and even after Chan fell 3-4, Hong Kong stayed within striking distance at 19-20.
The tension peaked in the anchor legs: Chu lost a close 2-3 exchange to put Shandong ahead 23-21, but Chan answered with a strong 5-3 burst to force a 26-26 deadlock heading into the decisive ninth bout.
With everything on the line, Hsieh faced the same Shandong fencer, Wang Xiaoxue, whom she had eliminated in the individual round of 32 days earlier.
Hsieh delivered again, dominating 7-4 to seal the 33-30 upset and send Hong Kong charging into the semifinals.
