Asian Para Games: Hong Kong bags gold, silver and 3 bronze, with 13-year-old swimmer winning city’s first medal
- Hong Kong swimmers sweep podium in men’s 200m freestyle S14 race
- Teen Ng Cheuk-yan wins city’s first medal, finishing third in the 100m backstroke S6 final
Hong Kong’s athletes made a strong start to the Asian Para Games, finishing the first full day of competition with one gold, one silver and three bronze medals.
On a day of success for the city, China’s athletes dominated in Hangzhou, with the mainland contingent bagging 83 medals in total. Iran trailed in second with 24, and Uzbekistan, with 20, ranked third.
Hong Kong swept the podium in the men’s 200m freestyle S14 final on Monday to win the city its first gold of the Games. Finishing first, Tang Wai-lok set a new Asian Para Games record with a time of one minute 56.76 seconds, closely followed by Cheung Tsun-lok at 1:57.34. Coming in third, Wong Hon-yin touched the wall at 2:00.65
And 13-year-old Ng Cheuk-yan won the city’s first medal of the Games in women’s 100m backstroke S6 final. The teenager took bronze, touching the wall with a time of 1:33.37, Chinese pair Jiang Yuyan (1:20.58) and Zhu Ji (1:28.79) took gold and silver respectively.
Hong Kong’s secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Kevin Yeung congratulated the young swimmer on her achievement.
“Ng gave it her all in the competition and won the first medal for the Hong Kong,” he wrote in a statement. “It encourages many other Hong Kong athletes. I’m looking forward to seeing more breakthroughs made by Hong Kong athletes and success in more events.”