Hong Kong fencing star Vivian Kong likely to keep world No 1 spot despite another disastrous outing
- The 25-year-old epeeist is bundled out at her first hurdle in the Chengdu leg of the World Cup series
- However, her nearest rival from South Korea also bombs out early and is unable to pick up points
Hong Kong’s Vivian Kong Man-wai is likely to cling on to her world number one spot even after performing poorly in her latest epee competition on the world tour on Saturday.
Seeded first in the women’s epee World Cup in Chengdu, China, Kong was eliminated at her first hurdle in the round of 64 against Sera Song of South Korea. Hong Kong’s first world number one ranked fencer was beaten 15-14 by her Korean rival and it was the second straight time the 25-year-old history-making Kong had gone out in the early stages of a competition after losing in the second round in Budapest earlier this month.
The world’s top 16 players fence straight in the knockout rounds – bypassing the group stages – and Song gained revenge on Kong after losing to the Hong Kong ace 15-13 in the quarter-finals of the Barcelona World Cup leg last month.
While Kong suffered misfortune, so did world number two Kang Young-mi, also of South Korea, who also crashed out in the early rounds, meaning she is unlikely to take over top spot in the world rankings.
Kang, the 2018 Asian Games champion, was surprisingly beaten 12-11 by Russia’s Maria Obraztsova, the world number 138.
Both Kong and Kang were tied on 163 ranking points before the Chengdu tournament.
“Kong is likely to keep her advantage over Kang after both fencers lost in the opening round of the Chengdu World Cup,” said Wong Tsan, a former vice-president of the Hong Kong Fencing Association, who runs his own fencing school.
The new rankings will be announced early next week upon completion of the Chengdu tournament on Sunday.
The world ranking system is based on the best five results on the tour, plus the World Championships or Olympic Games and the zonal championships. The first World Cup event of the season cancels out the same event from the previous year and so forth for the remainder of the events of the season.
Kong clinched her first World Cup leg victory this season in Havana, Cuba, which was quickly followed by her success in Barcelona last month, which propelled her to world number one. Last year, she came back from a cruciate ligament knee operation.
Kong climbed to the top of the standings a fortnight ago despite a mediocre 17th place in the Budapest Grand Prix. She replaced reigning world champion Mara Navarria, of Italy, who lost in the first stage of the same tournament.
