Hong Kong's latest sporting superstar, teenaged windsurfer Ho Chi-ho, made a slow start yesterday in his quest to win two world championships in the span of five weeks.
The 18-year-old returned a 14th and two sixth placings in the opening three races of the International Mistral Class Organisation (IMCO) World Junior Championship in Martigue, France, to lie seventh overall.
Ho has been tipped as a successor to Olympic champion Lee Lai-shan after clinching the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) World Junior Championship in the Mistral Class in Finland last month.
The pressure is now on him to emulate that feat in France, but he faces the prospect of fierce opposition over the next three days from the 66-strong fleet, the largest he has faced in competition.
Hong Kong's assistant head coach, Lisa Neuburger, said Ho's first task was to adjust to the size of the fleet.
'This is an incredibly competitive fleet, just by size alone,' Neuburger said.
Neuburger said that Ho was now a 'marked man' and would be watched closely by his rivals in all the races.