Hong Kong's Michael Cheng beats Olympian Andy Leung to win Asian title
The 19-year-old beats 2012 Olympian Andy Leung as the Asian Games race heats up
Fast-improving Michael Cheng Chun-leung narrowly defeated Hong Kong teammate Andy Leung Ho-tsun to win his first Asian Championship with a steady performance in Stanley on Sunday.
The two boardsailors were tied at the top of the standings with 14 penalty points in the men's RSX before the final day of competition, in which two races were contested.
The promising youngster calmly took race nine before finishing second in the last in the 10-race regatta, edging out Leung, Hong Kong's representative at the 2012 London Olympic Games, by just one point.
I only set a target of reaching the top three in Stanley because I didn't want to give myself too much pressure
Cheng, 19, claimed the title with 17 penalty points, while Leung, who finished the last two races in third and first place respectively, had 18. Third place went to Cho Won-woo, of South Korea, far behind with 31 points.
In the women's RSX, overall leader Hayley Chan Hei-man made up for a slip in performance on Saturday, winning both races on Sunday to finish top of the rankings with 12 penalty points.
Chan won six races out of the 10 to take her first Asian Championship title in three attempts. Hong Kong's Lo Sin-lam was a distant second with 21 penalty points. Komine Megumi of Japan was third on 36 points.
Cheng, who won a silver medal for Hong Kong at the inaugural 2010 Youth Olympics in Singapore, said the race with Leung was not yet over as the two would be competing for the only Hong Kong berth at next year's Incheon Asian Games.