Tang keen to gauge progress

Tang Yik-chun will race in Hong Kong this weekend for the first time since he went to train in California two months ago.

The talented sprinter is interrupting his training stint at the US Olympic Training Centre in Chula Vista, to represent the SAR in the Hong Kong Inter-City Championships at Wan Chai Sports Ground tomorrow.

Featuring 19 overseas teams and over 100 local elite athletes, the two-day event will be a good warm-up for Hong Kong team members who are preparing for the Asian Championships to be held in Jordan at the end of this month.

The 19-year-old Tang is looking forward to measuring his progress against leading sprinters from the region, including promising Yi Wen-chen from Taiwan, Kurisaki Kosuke and Eriguchi Masashi from Japan. The latter has a personal best of 10.37 seconds in the men's 100m.

'My form is fine, but since this is my first race after training in the US Olympic Centre, it is difficult to predict the result,' said Tang, who left for America in May. 'Of course I will give it my best as we are the hosts, and I look forward to a good performance.'

Tang, who will be staying on in Hong Kong to prepare for the Asian Championships, said he had made good progress in improving his sprinting skills while in the United States. However, he will concentrate on doing more strength training as that is the strongest part of the US programme.