Hong Kong women’s épée fencing team qualifies for the Tokyo Olympics … thanks to South Korea
- South Korea reach the final of the Russian World Cup series in Kazan, pushing Hong Kong up the ranking list
- The result meant that Hong Kong’s top fencer Vivian Kong can join her teammates in Tokyo
Hong Kong women’s épée team were celebrating on Tuesday night after they qualified for the Tokyo Olympics thanks to their South Korean counterparts in an unusual gesture of goodwill and luck.
The Hong Kong team, who were at home and unable to compete because of the pandemic, were counting on the South Koreans to provide them the passage to Tokyo in the last qualification tournament in Kazan.
The Koreans did Hong Kong a huge favour by reaching the final of the Russia World Cup series, boosting them to the top four of the qualification campaign.
That meant Hong Kong became the third Asian team – a prerequisite to qualifying for Tokyo – to make it to the Games this summer.
The qualification rules state the top four teams can book their berth while the next-best ranked team from each zone (Africa, the Americas, Europe, and Asia-Oceania) will also qualify as long as they are ranked in the top 16. Hong Kong are ranked 14 in the standings despite not sending a team to Kazan due to Covid-19 restrictions.