Quarantine worth it for fencer Ryan Choi after fifth-place effort in Doha yields top 10 world ranking
- The foilist finishes 5th in the FIE-sanctioned event, his first taste of competition in one year because of Covid-19 disruptions
- The 23-year-old must now spend 21 days alone in a Kowloon City hotel but he says the chance to compete overseas and break into the top 10 made it worthwhile
Fencer Ryan Choi Chun-yin said a first-ever top-10 ranking was worth the sacrifice as he spends 21 days in quarantine after returning from a successful tournament in Doha, Qatar.
The 23-year-old finished fifth at the FIE foil Grand Prix - his first taste of competition in a year - helping him rise to eighth in the world from his previous 12 and become the only Asian ranked in the top 10.
Choi, who returned to Hong Kong on Monday, must now wait out his 21 days of quarantine but he felt the entire journey was worth the effort as he looks forward to the Tokyo Games as part of the men’s foil team.
“We all felt excited about the event because it had been exactly one year since we last competed, in the United States,” said Choi, who is serving his quarantine in a Kowloon City hotel. “We don’t know if the event may be the last one before the Olympics but it’s good to have had the opportunity to test ourselves against the world’s best.
“We put in a lot of training during the past 12 months even when the Sports Institute was closed down and it was good that we could prove it in a real competition. We had a good feeling in Doha. I have made improvements, becoming more patient and matured than before.”