Gritty padel pair Christian-Aidan keep Asian Games dream alive

NAGOYA: Padel players Christian Didier Chin and Aidan Yunus continued their remarkable journey at the men's pairs event at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. The third-seeded duo fought back from a set down to defeat second seeds Farsad Shahi-Amirmohammad Jamshidi and Hami Golestan-Arya Roghani of Iran 1-6, 6-4, 6-1 in the semi-finals.

Aidan Yunus attributed their resilient performance to their mental fortitude. "Mentally, it was really tough for us after going down 6-1 in the first set. We did not start the way we wanted to," Aidan admitted. "We wanted to go out and take an early lead but after going down 6-1, we really had to tell ourselves to stay in it. Somehow, after the first break happened in the second set, I really started to believe in us...

It was amazing," exclaimed Christian. The pair, transitioning from squash and tennis backgrounds, have now set their sights on the gold medal match against either Qatar's top-seeded brothers Mashari Naif-Rashed Naif or Iran's fourth seeds Hami Golestan-Arya Roghani.