Agony for Hong Kong's Vivian Kong as she throws away glorious gold medal chance in Asian Fencing Championships final
The 23-year-old Hong Kong star calls herself ‘stupid’ after she throws away a four-point lead before losing to South Korea opponent in the Asian championships final
Hong Kong fencer Vivian Kong Man-wai blamed herself, calling herself “stupid” after she handed the gold medal to her South Korean opponent on a silver platter in the women’s epee final at the Asian championships on Saturday night.
Kong was within a point of making history at AsianWorld-Expo but despite having a four-point lead at 12-8, she failed to close it out as Kang Young-mi managed to steal victory 13-12 in front of about 1,000 disbelieving home fans.
“I am very sorry,” she said after her heartbreaking loss. “I was so stupid and lacked the determination during the crucial period, to attack or defend as my brain was like empty,” said the disappointed Kong.
Before Kong’s unbelievable meltdown, a minute was added to break the tie after the Korean fencer tied the bout to 12-all after the nine-minute allocated time. The Korean sized the opportunity much better to win.
Kong managed a smile during the awards ceremony with silver still her best result in the zonal championships. But the 23-year-old was apologetic in the post-match interview, saying she was sorry she let down her fans and herself.
“This has happened to me a number of times recently and I must improve if I want to be a better fencer,” she said. “There have been so many people helping us to achieve good results and I should not let them down.”