Cycling's Shen is top coach
Cycling's Shen Jinkang won the Coach of the Year Award in the individual category of senior athletes yesterday after leading his charges to two gold medals at the Asian Games in Doha.
In the team category, Hui Jun of table tennis and wheelchair fencing's Zheng Kangzhao shared the honours. Organised by the Hong Kong Coaching Committee, the annual awards recognise the contributions of coaches.
Wong Kam-po, who accompanied his coach to the awards presentation, claimed a gold medal in the men's individual road race in Doha, while his teammate, Cheung King-wai, won the 40-kilometre points race.
Of the six gold medals Hong Kong won in Doha, cycling was the only sport to clinch two.
Shen, who took a break from training his squad in China to collect the trophy, said he had set his sights for 2007 on winning Olympic berths for the team.
'We will take part in the world B championships in South Africa next month. Hopefully we can finish in the top three so we can get the tickets to Beijing.
'If we fail, we need to finish in the top three in the Asian tour national rankings,' he said.
In the junior athletes category, windsurfing coach Cheung Kwok-bun claimed the Coach of the Year award for individual athletes, while fencing coach Wang Ruiji was awarded Coach of the Year for team events.
