Lee Lai-shan got off to a sluggish start in her bid to win a hat-trick of world titles despite the absence of her two main rivals, finishing sixth in the opening race of the World Championships in Athens yesterday.
The SAR's 1996 Atlanta Olympic champion is yearning for a third world title following her successes in 1993 and 1997 because she is likely to retire from competition after October's All China Games in Guangdong.
San San, who came third behind reigning Olympic champion Alessandra Sensini of Italy and Frenchwoman Lise Vidal at the European Championships in Marseille a fortnight ago, must have thought her task had been made easier after both Sensini and Vidal chose to concentrate on the Mediterranean Games, which will be held after the Athens event.
Hong Kong head coach Rene Appel said: 'Her speed was good but she rounded the mark on the wrong side of the first shift in the first beat, and was unable to catch up in subsequent smaller shifts. There was a bigger disappointment in that she was unable to race a second race and get a better result as the winds died off completely and stayed away for the remainder of the day.'
But he remained upbeat on San San's title chance. 'Her sixth place was obviously not the start we had in mind, but it's only the first race, so as long as we improve on this in the coming races nothing is lost yet.'
San San's young teammates fared well with world junior champion Ho Chi-ho and Chan King-yin finishing sixth and eighth respectively in a competitive men's fleet, while another female sailor, Chan Wai-kei, came two places behind San San the 51-strong women's fleet.
