Tokyo Paralympics semis for both Hong Kong boccia pairs after tiebreak drama
- Bronze medal shot at the very least for Hong Kong’s BC4 pairs team as they cruise into semi-finals with 100 per cent record
- Late drama in winner takes all BC3 game against Australia as it goes to tiebreak won by Tak and Ho for another medal chance
Vivian Lau Wai-yan, Leung Yuk-wing and unused team member Wong Kwan-hang started the day off with a bang as they beat the Russian Paralympic Committee 8-2 in their BC4 group B pool match at the Ariake Gymastics Centre.
The Russian team – Daria Adonina, Sergey Safin and Ivan Frolov – were level after two ends before Hong Kong scored five points in the third to pull away. Both teams added another point each in the fourth and final end.
Victory put Hong Kong in the driving seat for a place in the semi-final as they went into the evening’s final match against Thailand with a 100 per cent record that they duly kept intact.
Lau and Leung romped to a swift 5-1 win over Thailand’s Pornchok Larpyen, Ritthikrai Somsanuk and Nuanchan Phonsila to top the group and take on group A’s second place pairs Portugal in Saturday’s semi-final.
Portugal went through with two wins from four matches and a minus-11 points difference compared to 100 per cent Hong Kong’s plus-20 points difference. At worst Hong Kong will play for bronze in both the BC4 and BC3 events.
