Cheung King-lok becomes first Asian champion from Hong Kong in men’s road time trial
Women’s riders Ma Yin-yu and Pang Yao are also in the medals in Oshima, Japan
Cheung King-lok shrugged off a disappointing performance at the track World Cup yesterday to become Hong Kong’s first road time-trial gold medallist at the Asian Championships in Oshima, Japan.
A former Asian junior champion, Cheung was the fastest among 14 starters when he finished the 44.8-kilometre race in one hour and 15.50 seconds, beating second-placed Choe Hyeon-min, of South Korea, by seven seconds.
The Korean twice came third in the same event of the two previous championships. Third place went to Alireza Haghi, of Iran, who was 10 seconds behind Cheung.
This is a major breakthrough for Hong Kong riders. We have never achieved such a result on the road
The victory came just days after Cheung failed to win a medal at the track World Cup round in Hong Kong where he was considered the favourite in the scratch and points race with home crowd support, including his parents.
“This is a major breakthrough for Hong Kong riders,” said chairman of the Cycling Association Leung Hung-tak. “We have never achieved such a result on the road, even if we knew long ago Cheung had the quality as he has the speed and the physique. We are happy he finally has proved himself at regional level.”
Cheung, who turns 25 next month, showed immense talent at a very young age. He started full-time training in 2008 and just one year later, he clinched four gold medals at the Asian Junior Championships, including the time trial.
It was Cheung’s fifth gold in the regional championships, but his first on the road. He previously won four times on the track, including three in the madison and one in the points race.