Local sailors and windsurfers bring home medals
It was smooth sailing for the Hong Kong team at the Asian Sailing Championships in Langkawi, Malaysia.
They won two gold, four silver and three bronze medals at the competition, held in February.
That's quite an achievement, because they faced nearly 240 sailors from 19 countries. Hong Kong had 25 boats and 35 sailors, most of them under 22 years old.
The locals were in top form in both the sailing and windsurfing events. Junior sailors Cosmas Grelon and Nathan Bradley took gold in the 29er sailing category. Windsurfer Ma Yik-kau also finished at the top in the MOD men's category.
Ma's teammate, full-time windsurfer Sonia Lo Sin-lam, 19, clinched a silver medal in the RSX women's category.
'This is my third Asian Championships. I won a bronze medal in 2010 and finished in fourth place in 2011 in the same competition,' Lo says. 'It would have been great if I had won the gold medal this time, but the eventual winner, Wu Jiahui [from the mainland], was too good.'
For Lo, the Malaysian showpiece was the last competition in Asia for this year.
She will head to Europe next month to compete until the end of the season.
Team manager Warwick Downes said he was always confident the sailors would do well at the championships, even though some competed in new categories.
Gold medallists
Sailing 29er - Cosmas Grelon and Nathan Bradley
Windsurf MOD, men's - Ma Yik-kau
Silver medallists
Sailing Hobie 16 - Tong Yui-shing and Tong Kit-fong
Sailing Laser Radial - Nagisa Sakai
Windsurf MOD, women's - Wang Shujia
Windsurf RSX, women's - Sonia Lo Sin-lam
Bronze medallists
Windsurf MOD, men's - Kong Ching-lam
Windsurf MOD, women's - Law Chin-yin
Windsurf RSX, women's - Lydia Chau Kin-ching
