Hard work pays off as HK shine in Philippines
The Hong Kong team claimed seven gold medals at the Asian Aquathon Championships and Asian Duathlon Championships over the weekend in the Philippines.
The Aquathon Championships featured a 2.5km run followed by a 1km swim and then another 2.5km run. Samuel Leung posted a time of 35 minutes and nine seconds to finish third overall and first in the men's under-23 category.
Ricco Chan clocked 35:20 to win gold as the top junior in the men's category, while Tania Mak So-ning completed the course in 37:50 to clinch overall honours in the women's event. Mak also won the under-23 category.
Vincci Hui clocked a creditable 38:53 for second overall and first place in the junior women's category.
Angela Wong of the Hong Kong Triathlon Association said the weekend's successes were the result of hard work by the national squad over the winter. 'We're very pleased with the performance of the Hong Kong team,' said Wong.
'They've been working very hard to be able to compete on equal terms in international competition, and the results this weekend are a clear demonstration of exactly how hard they've worked.'
The Duathlon Championships featured a run-bike-run event with the elite open and under-23 categories competing over a 10km run, 40km bike and a 5km run course. The junior event raced half that distance.
Lemuel Lau placed fifth overall and first in the under-23 category after posting a good time of 1:59:19.
Chan, who had already competed in the Aquathon event, clocked 1:00:05 to win the junior category.
John Lam completed the course in 1:03:08 to claim the third spot in the men's junior event, while Leanne Szeto was timed at 1:10:18 to place second in the women's junior category.
