Tokyo Olympics: China’s golden day in stark contrast to Hong Kong’s early disappointment
- China shooter Yang Qian becomes new poster girl winning first gold medal of Games and is followed by weightlifter Hou Zhihui and fencer Sun Yiwen
- Hong Kong fencer Vivian Kong fails to live up to expectations, while vaulter Stone Shek injures ankle and crashes out
“It’s the 100th birthday of the Chinese Communist Party,” she said. “I’m so happy that this golden medal is a gift to my country.”
The 24-year-old set two bests in the snatch, lifting 92kg with her second attempt, and 94kg moments later. Her final attempt in the clean and jerk of 116kg was a new record, as was her overall score of 210kg.
“I felt very happy when I finally made it,” Hou said. “In one second all the stress disappeared. I prepared for five years so it means a lot to me.”
The day ended as gloriously as it began for China, with fencer Sun Yiwen winning gold in the individual épée.
But the black cloud of Covid-19 continued to hang over the Games, with Tokyo organisers adding another athlete to the total of Olympics-related cases. It now stands 127.
German cyclist Simon Geschke’s positive test was announced on Friday, one day ahead before the signature men’s road race.
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Athletes account for 14 of the cases since July 1. Among the new positive tests are 14 games contractors who live in Japan.
Dutch team officials said on Saturday that rower Finn Florijn tested positive and is out of the Games., joining two other Dutch athletes who previously tested positive. Florijn’s positive test won’t show up in the official tally of cases until Sunday.
China’s success was in stark contrast to Hong Kong’s, where hopes for early success in fencing and gymnastics were quickly dashed.
An emotional Kong said she was “really sorry for disappointing everyone”.
“I know you have a lot of expectations for me, and I also have a lot to give back to the team behind us. I’m really sorry,” she said.
Earlier, teammate Coco Lin Yik-hei lost to bottom seed Kiria Tikanah Abdul Rahman, of Singapore, in the first round.
Lin, Kong, and Hsieh will all be back in action on Tuesday when they take on China in the first round of the team event.
There will be no second chances for vaulter Stone Shek Wai-hung, however, after his qualifying session ended in disaster.
Having posted an opening score of 14.716, he was on course to reach the eight-man final, but an awkward landing on his final vault not only injured his ankle, but a score of 13.833 dragged down his average, and he wasrelegated from the qualifying places during the evening session.
It was not all bad news though, with the city’s athletes keeping their dreams alive in the table tennis, badminton and rowing.
In the badminton, Angus Ng Ka-long eased past Lino Munoz in the men’s singles group stage, beating the Mexican in straight sets in just 33 minutes.
“I am feeling good and after this match I hope I will be better and better, to fight for the last 16 place and even the quarter-final place,” Ng said.
In the evening, the mixed doubles pair of Tang Chun-man and Tse Ying-suet made a convincing start and will now take on Chinese top seeds of the group, Wang Yilyu and Huang Dongping, on Sunday.
The only blemish on an otherwise excellent day for China came in the football, where the women’s team blew a two-goal lead in a 4-4 draw with Zambia, a result that is likely to end their hopes of progressing beyond the group stage.
