A one-hour and 45-minute rain delay failed to dampen the enthusiasm of the 600 athletes who turned up to compete in the Hong Kong Open track meet at Tsing Yi Sports Ground yesterday, organised by the Hong Kong Amateur Athletic Association.
Despite the disrupted schedule and soggy conditions, competition was fierce among the competitors, especially as many of the leading local athletes were on international duty over the weekend in South Korea.
Junior runner Lai Chun-ho ran a creditable 22:44 to win the men's 200 metres from second placed Ho Kwun-lung, while Genis Chan (15:36) won the men's 110m hurdles event by half a second from junior hurdler Chu Kwan-ho. Fellow junior competitor Winter Tsui breezed around the 12.5 laps of the track to win the men's 5000m in 16:59:64, well ahead of marathon specialist Mo Wai-shing, who clocked 17:05:35 in second. The women's 100m was a closely contested race with Yeung Man-fung edging out Natalie Armentrout by just 0.03 seconds to claim victory in 12.86. Junior runners placed first and second in the women's 200m with Hui Man-ling taking gold in 26.53 and Chung Wing-ting claiming silver in 27.37.
Leong Yuen-fan destroyed the field in the women's 5,000m to win the event in 19:52.48, finishing more than two minutes clear of Kam Fung-ling in second place.