LOCAL junior orienteers grabbed the lion's share of medals at the recent Asia Pacific Championships (APOC), but highly acclaimed Thomas Kwok had a disappointing international debut with a third place finish.
Thomas is considered by orienteering officials as one of the brightest young prospects and has been nominated by the Orienteering Association of Hong Kong for the Junior Sports Stars of the Year awards.
The Diocesan Boys' School student, however, only collected an APOC bronze medal in the boys' 14-and-under (H14) division, finishing behind Australian Nicholas Spriggs and schoolmate Hui Sin-tung.
Thomas took 37 minutes and six seconds to complete the 2.25-kilometre course with a 50-metre climb, more than six minutes behind Nicholas who was the only lad to finish within 30 minutes. Sin-tung clocked 33:47.
'I made one bad judgment and that ruined all my chances,' said Thomas, who took up orienteering two years ago after he was introduced to the sport in an Outward Bound School programme.
'This was my first international race and I was a bit nervous, and I still have a lot to learn,' he said.
