Hong Kong fencers book historic appearance at Tokyo Olympics after brilliant performance in Cairo World Cup
- Hong Kong beat regional rivals South Korea in quarter-finals before snatching bronze in Cairo with a thrilling 45-44 win over world No 2 France
- Hong Kong has never been represented by a fencing team at Olympics, since first sending two fencers to compete in individual events at 1972 Munich Games
Hong Kong men’s foil team booked a historic appearance at the Olympics after finishing third in the Cairo leg of the World Cup series on Sunday, the last round of team qualification for Tokyo 2020.
Having defeated regional arch-rivals South Korea 45-35 in the quarter-finals, Hong Kong ensured they would be one of the eight teams at the Olympic Games this summer. They were outplayed by the top-ranked US team in the semi-finals, losing 45-37, but produced an amazing effort in beating France 45-44 in a thrilling play-off for the bronze medal.
“It has been a long journey since qualification began last year and the Olympic berth is always so close,” said Ryan Choi Chun-yin, one of the quartet also consisting of Cheung Ka-long, Cheung Siu-lun and Lawrence Ng Lok-wang. “But it was never a done deal until we finally grabbed it in the last qualification round. It’s a big relief for all of us and the back room staff as we can now look forward to Tokyo and some even stronger performances.”
With a team place secured, Hong Kong can also send three fencers to the individual foil event.
Hong Kong was first represented in fencing at the 1972 Munich Games in two individual events and it will be the first time they have sent a team to the Olympics in Tokyo this summer.