HONGKONG will be represented in eight sports at the inaugural East Asian Games due to open in Shanghai on Sunday and its best medal chances are in wushu.
National coach Liu De promised there will be medals from his charges but warned they may have to be content with silvers and bronzes although world nanquan champion Leung Yat-ho is leading the territory's challenge.
''The scoring system in wushu is similar to gymnastics and diving where points are given for individual performances and players with a bigger reputation are sometimes given higher scores,'' said Liu.
''Home players usually also have an advantage so I'm afraid we may have to play second fiddle to the Chinese unless someone produces an exceptionally outstanding demonstration.'' Hongkong's best chance for a gold medal will no doubt be Leung in men's nanquan but the 24-year-old faces a stiff task against his former Guangdong province teammate He Qiang.
Both Leung and He learnt their kungfu from the same master and there has been close rivalry between them for almost a decade.
Leung always held the edge during their teenage years and was the Guangdong provincial champion before he came to Hongkong five years ago at the age of 19.
They renewed their rivalry at the 1990 Asian Games in Beijing and He won the gold medal with Leung settling for the silver.
