Hong Kong's U20 men's tennis team made history on Tuesday, clinching a bronze medal and marking the city’s first-ever team medal in the sport at the National Games after a semifinal defeat to the top-seeded Jiangsu team.

The semifinal clash employed a best-of-three format, with two singles matches followed by a potential doubles decider.

Hong Kong's Jack Cheng led the charge in the first singles rubber against Jiangsu's Xu Kuangqing. However, Cheng was unable to counter his opponent's play, falling in straight sets 1-6, 0-6, handing Jiangsu the initial lead.

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In the second singles match, Hong Kong's Nicholas Cheng Siu-chi faced Jiangsu's Hu Jia, and dropped the first set 3-6, but mounted a strong comeback to take the second set 6-3, levelling the match. The final set was a tightly contested affair, but Cheng fell short, losing 4-6. The victory in the second singles gave Jiangsu an unassailable 2-0 lead in the tie, concluding the contest.

With no bronze medal match, the Hong Kong squad automatically secured a place on the podium upon reaching the final four — a historic first for the team in this competition.

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Winning the bronze medal brought the city's total medal count in competitive events to two golds and one bronze, following earlier victories by sailor Nicholas Halliday in the men's ILCA 7 event and cyclist Lee Sze-wing's successful title defense in the women's individual road race.

Meanwhile, rowers Wong Sheung-yee and Leung King-wan finished sixth in the women’s coxless pair A final. Swimmers Cindy Cheung Sum-yuet and Man Wui-kiu have advanced to the semifinals of the 100-meter backstroke and breaststroke events respectively, and will both bid for spots in the finals later this evening.

Contact the writer at stacyshi@chinadailyhk.com