Making her point: fencing ace Chan Yui-chong claims bronze medal for Hong Kong at Rio Paralympics
The 33 year-old beat Simone Briese-Baetke of Germany 15-14 following a narrow semi-final defeat by Zhou Jingjing of China
Hong Kong won its third medal at the Paralympic Games when wheelchair fencer Chan Yui-chong claimed a bronze medal in the women’s individual epee (category B) in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday.
The 33 year-old was narrowly defeated 15-14 by Zhou Jingjing of China in the semi-finals but overcame Simone Briese-Baetke of Germany by the same scoreline in the bronze medal match at Carioca Arena 3.
It was Chan’s second consecutive bronze medal in the same event after finishing third at the London Paralympics four years ago.
Watch: Chan Yui-chong claim a bronze medal in the women’s individual epee
She also won gold in the individual epee at the Beijing Paralympics in 2008.
“I feel very happy as I have never thought of reaching the semi-finals,” said Chan.
“And after making it to the last four, I am also lucky enough to get a bronze as this sounds like a good beginning.
“I feel a bit tired but still have the individual foil and then followed by the two team events.”
Her husband, Tam Chik-sum, however, fell short of the quarter-finals in the men’s individual epee (cat B) after finishing fifth in the group stage, along with women’s counterpart Yu Chui-yee.
Competing in the individual epee (cat A), Yu, the defending champion and a multi Paralympic gold medallist, also had a disappointing run in the group stage with a fifth place and did not advance to the knockout stage.
Yu, 32, has won the most Paralympic gold medals for Hong Kong with seven under her belt since her debut in Athens in 2004. She will also start in the individual foil, in which she is the three-time defending champion and join Chan and Justine Charissa Ng in both the foil and epee team events, which have only one combined single category.
In the women’s 200 metres (T36) final, Yam Kwok-fan came eighth, the same result she achieved in the 100 metres. Hong Kong has so far also won a gold in swimming and a bronze in table tennis.
Watch: Yam Kwok-fan in the women’s 200 metres (T36) final
In boccia, both Leung Yuk-wing and Lau Wai-yan got off to winning starts in the mixed individual (BC4) after thrashing their Greek and Portuguese opponents13-2 and 9-2 respectively in the group stage.
