FLAMBOYANT wushu expert Leung Yat-ho won Hongkong's first silver medal of the East Asian Games last night - and then said it should have been gold.
The 25-year-old movie stuntman, who also won a silver at the Asian Games in Beijing in 1990, was installed as firm favourite when his main rival, He Qiang, 23, pulled out of the men's nanquan event on the morning of the competition.
He, a member of the Guangdong province team, who beat Leung for the gold in the Beijing Asiad, said he had an infection and watched the action from the galleries packed with a capacity crowd of 3,000 at the Jingan Gymnasium.
But China found another champion in 23-year-old Beijing-born Ka Li, who scored 9.50 points for his performance in the southern Chinese martial art which is characterised by force and foot positioning, enabling the pugilist to attack from any direction.
Leung, the last of the 10 competitors, thought he had done enough to win and there was no hiding his disappointment when the scoreboard flashed 9.45 points from a possible 10.
Leung, who won the world championship in Beijing in between the Asian and East Asian Games, said: ''I was very satisfied with my performance and thought it was good enough to win the gold medal.''
