Cheung King-lok strikes gold for Hong Kong in Astana
Team's chief hails rider who will have sights on Asian Games after first in men's points race
Cheung King-lok clinched a first gold medal for Hong Kong at the Asian Championships after capturing the men's points race title in Astana, Kazakhstan yesterday.
The 23-year-old finished the 30-kilometre, 120-lap race with 55 points, the highest among 12 riders, including four who failed to finish. Feng Chun-Kai of Taiwan was second with 50 points, while third went to Mohammad Rajablou of Iran with 39.
Cheung has become the leading rider in the men's squad following the absence of Kwok Ho-ting, who is still recovering from a lower back injury that has hampered him since the beginning of the year.
He is full of potential and his speed is amazing.If he can keep his form, he will certainly have some performance in the Asian Games
Hong Kong Cycling Association chairman Leung Hung-tak said before the team's departure that Cheung would be among their major medal challengers for this year's Asian Games
"He is full of potential and his speed is amazing," said the chairman. "If he can keep his form, he will certainly have some performance in the Asian Games."
Cheung also steered Hong Kong into the final of the men's team pursuit, after they finished second in the qualifiers.
The quartet of Cheung, his elder brother Cheung King-wai, Leung Chun-wing and Wu Lok-chun finished the 4 kilometre race in four minutes and 9.2 seconds, almost three seconds behind China, who clocked 4:6.5.