Bailee Brown finished in the top 20 in the women’s under-23 category. Photo: Handout
Source:
https://scmp.com/sport/hong-kong/article/3201102/world-triathlon-championships-under-23-race-jason-ng-surpasses-coach-hong-kongs-best-ever Hong Kong
World Triathlon Championships under-23 race: Jason Ng surpasses coach as Hong Kong’s best ever
- Student is the leading Asian athlete as he earns 14th place in Abu Dhabi, beating coach Andrew Wright’s effort in 2005
- Bailee Brown is the first Hong Kong woman home, in 18th, but Oscar Coggins continues to struggle after serious bout of food poisoning
Jason Ng (left) has had a busy second half of the year. Photo: Hong Kong Triathlon Association
Jason Ng Tai-long earned Hong Kong’s best-ever finish in the under-23 race at the triathlon World Championships in Abu Dhabi, finishing 14th despite battling leg cramps during the run.
Ng, 22, was not only the highest-placed of Hong Kong’s six representatives across the men’s and women’s under-23 categories on Friday, but was also Asia’s top finisher as he ended the season on a high.
He clocked one hour, 52 minutes and 19 seconds, completing the 1.5km swim in 18:19, followed by the 40km bike ride in 59:44 and the 10km run in 32:51.
Having found himself in the top 10 after the first of four laps during the run, Ng suffered a sudden leg cramp and was unable to push on.
It was nonetheless a new benchmark for Hong Kong, surpassing the 30th-place finish in 2005 by Andrew Wright – now the city’s head coach.
“I’m satisfied overall, but a little disappointed because I was running in the top 10 before my hamstrings and quads cramped up,” said Ng, ranked 79th in the world. “I ended up having to back off and run the remaining 8km with leg cramps.”
The podium was dominated by Britons. Connor Bentley, who finished 18th in the same event last year, made significant progress by winning in 1:50:15, with his compatriot Hamish Reilly third in 1:50:29 behind Hungary’s Gergely Kiss in 1:50:24.
Ng has competed in seven races in the past three months, with two podium finishes: second in the Asia Championships mixed relay in Kazakhstan in September, and third at the Asia Cup in Jordan last month.
“It’s been a long year, but it’s good to be back racing again,” said Ng, a student at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
According to coach Wright, Ng’s first under-23 World Championships race was likely to be his last, given that next year’s clashes with the new September date for the postponed Asian Games in Hangzhou.
Behind Ng, the next Hongkonger to finish in the men’s race was Oscar Coggins. The Tokyo Olympian had still not fully recovered from a serious bout of food poisoning suffered at the Asia Championships, and came 27th in 1:54:09, with Nicholas Tsang Cheung-sing 40th in 1:55:55.
Bailee Brown was 18th in the women’s under-23 race in 2:05:19 and, like Ng, was the highest-placed Asian athlete. Her compatriots Cade Wright (2:10:18) and Charlotte Hall (2:12:09) were 27th and 30th respectively.
“Great finish to the year for our top athletes,” Wright said. “This is the first time we were able to field a full under-23 team, and to get two top-20 finishes is very promising.
Wong Tsz-to (left) and Yu Shing-him (right) on the podium at the Asia Cup in Malaysia. Photo: Handout
“Oscar has not recovered well and has fatigue symptoms – thankfully it’s not Olympic year, and we’ve learned a lot from this incident.”
Separately, Hong Kong’s Wong Tsz-to and Yu Shing-him finished second and third in the elite men’s sprint at the Asia Cup in Ipoh, Malaysia.
Wong was timed at 54:22 and Yu at 54:34 after a 750-metre swim, 20km bike and 5km run. Australia’s Joshua Ferris won in 53:55.
Hilda Choi Yan-yin finished 10th in the elite women’s race in 1:03:42.