THE ''magic potion'' devised by Chinese athletics supercoach Ma Junren had its first Hong Kong trial yesterday - and got a mixed reaction.
Up-and-coming 400 metre hurdles star 20-year-old Tung Chung-man was the territory's first recorded sampler of the new drink, called ''Ener-G'' in English and ''the nuclear energy of life'' in Chinese.
Tung opened the screw-top glass bottle and sniffed the dark liquid inside.
''It's got a funny taste, bitter and sweet,'' he said as he knocked it back.
''As soon as you taste it you know it is Chinese medicine. It can't compare with Coca-Cola.'' Twenty minutes later, after a sprinting session on the track at the Hong Kong Sports Institute in Sha Tin, Tung said his body recovered more quickly from the exercise after drinking the potion.
''It's about 20 per cent faster. This time my muscles did not hurt at all.'' But Tung, who set a new Hong Kong record in the hurdles on Saturday and is in contention for a place at this year's Asian Games in Hiroshima, said he was not prepared to drink any more of the potion until he knew exactly what was in it.
