Super-fit Chan targets medal
Hong Kong's ace windsurfer Vicky Chan Wai-kei will set off to the city of Izmir, Turkey tomorrow with high hopes of clinching Hong Kong's first-ever medal at the World University Games.
Chan, together with a delegation of 47 Hong Kong athletes, will participate in the 11-day event starting next Thursday.
Currently ranked sixth in the world, the 24-year-old boardsailor said she was 'very confident of winning a medal' because she was familiar with the course in Turkey - where she finished first in the world university championships for windsurfing last year.
'Winning a medal at the World University Games is one of our targets this year,' Chan said. 'I have improved a lot in every aspect - from board speed to skills - in the last six months and I'm quite fit.'
Chan is among the first group to leave Hong Kong for the games, while the rest of the delegation will leave on Sunday and next Thursday. Apart from sailing, Hong Kong will compete in seven other events - swimming, tennis, athletics, men's volleyball, fencing, archery and taekwondo.
Head of Hong Kong's delegation for the games, Patrick Chan Ping-cheung, said the team were stronger this year because many athletes represented the SAR at senior level. 'We have a higher percentage of Hong Kong team members in our delegation [than before]. About 80 per cent of them are from the Hong Kong squads, compared to around 60 to 70 per cent in 2003,' Chan said. He was also hoping for medals in swimming, fencing and tennis.
Another medal hope for Hong Kong, tennis player Brian Hung Lap-hei, 20, said he was prepared and fit for the games. 'I play a lot more competitions in the summer when I don't need to go to school, so I'm fitter and play better,' said Hung, a third-year business student at the University of Michigan.
Apart from playing singles, he will also partner Polly Lam Po-kuen in mixed doubles.
'There may be a chance for medals in mixed doubles. I was paired with Lam in a tournament three years ago and we played quite well together,' he said, adding that he wasn't nervous about the games. 'But it's difficult to get into the top three in the singles, as other competitors are top level and almost playing full-time.'
The event comes under the Hong Kong Sports Institute's cash incentive scheme, and $250,000 will be offered to individual gold medallists, $125,000 for silver and $50,000 for bronze.
Team gold wins $350,000 with $200,000 for silver and $100,000 for bronze.
