Event gives Andy Leung taste of what lies ahead in Asian Games
Windsurfer finds regional championship at Incheon tougher than expected in lead-up to September
Windsurfer Andy Leung Ho-tsun has received a rude reminder of the mammoth task awaiting him at the Asian Games as he struggles at the continental sailing championships in Incheon.
The Incheon course is the same as that to be used in the Asian Games in September.
Leung, who defeated fellow up-and-coming competitor Michael Cheng Chun-leung to win the men's RSX berth for the Asiad, is now fourth in the regional championships.
This is the first time we have raced here and it is pretty much a fact-finding event for our windsurfers
With seven races left, Leung, who also took part in the 2012 London Olympic Games, remains in fourth place with 16 penalty points, a distant 10 behind leader Cho Won-woo of South Korea. Another Korean, Lee Byung-gun, is in second place with 14, while Leung's teammate, Gabriel Brettell, is third with 15 points.
"The course is very difficult because of tidal differences and strong sea currents," said Windsurfing Association executive director Dennis Chau Wai-keung.
"It will be very difficult to beat the home sailors, now and at September's Asian Games. But fortunately, this is the first time we have raced here and it is pretty much a fact-finding event for our windsurfers. Hopefully, they can do better when they return in September with the experience they gain from this time."
In the RS:One class - a new women's category which, along with RSX, will be contested at the Asian Games - Hong Kong's Lo Sin-lam lies second with 12 points, just one behind Siripon Kaewduangngam of Thailand. Another Hong Kong sailor, Ngai Wai-yan, is third with 17 points.