Teen trumps older rivals at athletic meet

Schoolboy sprinter Tang Yik-chun beat older rivals to take both the 100 metres and 200m titles at the Hong Kong Amateur Athletic Association's Open Meet at Shing Mun Valley Sports Ground, Tsuen Wan, on Sunday.

Yik-chun, 18, a Form Five student at Shun Tak Fraternal Association Yung Yau College, set a personal best in the 200m. His time of 21.09 seconds could have been a new Hong Kong record (the present mark is 21.21 seconds), but being wind-assisted, it won't count.

In the 100m, he finished ahead of his main rival, Tang Hon-sing, in 10.80 seconds. Yik-chun also won the race last year.

'He did very well at the start,' said his coach at Watsons Athletic Club, Ko Chi-hang. 'It was a pity the time of 21.09 seconds couldn't be recognised as a new record. He will still target the 200m record early next year and will focus on the 100m from February when the first round of Watsons Water Athletic King Championships 2005 will be held.'

Yik-chun was the Junior Athletic King at the Watson's event in October, and last June, he was men's 100m champion at the 2004 National Open Invitational Track and Field Championships in Manila. He was also a 100m semi-finalist at the 11th Asian Junior Athletics Championships in Malaysia, while he won the men's 200m at the Hong Kong Summer Invitational Athletic Meet in July.

Guest athletes from Taiwan dominated the other events at Shing Mun Valley. Juniors from the Taipei Athletic Team won the women's 200m, men's and women's shot put, and women's 1,500m and 5,000m. Taipei's Jang Ching-wen clocked 18 minutes, 16.15 seconds to win the 5,000m, and 4 minutes, 59.82 seconds to take the 1,500m honours. Her teammate, Jiang Tz-ying, was third in the women's 1,500m in 5 minutes, 14.86 seconds. Leung Ying-suet, a Hong Kong Distance Running Squad (HKDRS) member, was second in 5 minutes,