Taiwan's Cheng Hsien-tzu (???) and Liu Hsing-yin (???) clinched a bronze medal in the women's doubles at the Asian Table Tennis Championships in Doha on Tuesday, after losing to their Hong Kong opponents 0-3 in the semifinals.

The Taiwanese duo lost to Hong Kong's Doo Hoi Kem (???) and Lee Ho Ching (???) 9-11, 1-11?3-11 in a match that lasted only 21 minutes, dashing their hopes of competing for the gold medal.

Cheng and Liu were assured of a bronze medal following the defeat as both losing semifinalists, in this case Taiwanese and Japanese duos, received bronze medals.

The pairing of Cheng, who represented Taiwan at the Tokyo Olympics earlier this year, and Liu, a silver medal winner in the women's singles at the National Games of Taiwan, marks the first time Taiwan's players have advanced to the women's doubles semifinals at the Asian Table Tennis Championships since 1996.

Meanwhile, the victory marks the first bronze medal Taiwan has won in the women's doubles at the tournament in 25 years.

On Oct. 1, Taiwan trio of Chuang Chih-yuan (???), Chen Chien-an (???) and Feng Yi-hsin (???) claimed a silver medal in the men's team competition after losing to South Korea, 1-3.

The silver medal win tied the team's best record in that category.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel