Poor start comes back to haunt Lai

Jacqueline Lai Jing-man left her best until last, finishing with a clear second round, but it was still not good enough to earn her a medal in the individual jumping contest as the curtain came down on the equestrian events at the Hong Kong Jockey Club-built Conghua venue yesterday.

Lai, a member of the Hong Kong team who won their first-ever medal (bronze) in team jumping, finished in 14th place after incurring a disappointing 19 penalty points in the first round, while teammate Kenneth Cheng Man-kit finished 12th. Cheng had nine points in the morning round and a total of 17 after the second round.

Patrick Lam, the third member who reached the individual jumping final, withdrew because his horse, JC Tilburg, suffered a tendon inflammation.

'I was a bit nervous in the morning because I came from the bronze medal team and hoped to perform in a perfect way,' Lai said. 'I had a good warm-up but I pushed the horse too hard.'

Hong Kong won their first bronze medal at the Asian Games on Monday after losing to United Arab Emirates after a jump out.

Lai, 19, attributed the success to the tough training in Europe over the past year.