Hong Kong hope for at least one Olympic ticket after rowers are unable to secure Tokyo places via qualifying regatta
- Racing for the first time in almost 18 months, the crews manage to reach one final and three B-finals in the Tokyo Bay qualifiers
- Head coach Chris Perry says he is disappointed they could not secure a place on merit and must now rely on how other countries pick their teams
Hong Kong are hoping to have at least one boat at the Tokyo Games after failing to guarantee a ticket at Friday’s Asia-Oceania Olympic Qualification Regatta in Japan.
Unable to race for 18 months because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the men’s lightweight doubles sculls of Chiu Hin-chun and Wong Wai-chun were the best performers – winning their heat but finishing fifth out of six boats in the final.
Four qualifying events were held at the Sea Forest Waterway in Tokyo Bay – the same venue that will host the Olympic rowing competition – with 16 qualifying places up for grabs. Hosts Japan won all four events, which also featured men’s and women’s singles sculls and women’s lightweight doubles.
However, Japan can only qualify a maximum two boats to the Games according to the rules with the remaining 14 tickets to be allocated to all other countries with a maximum of one to each team. There are five tickets for each of the two singles and three for each of the two doubles and the teams will have two weeks to decide which boat or boats shall represent them at the Games.
Hong Kong target two crews in 2020 Olympic Games qualifiers
“Unfortunately none of our crews got a guaranteed ticket position today,” said head rowing head Chris Perry. “So now it depends on the ranking of each country and what some countries choose when they have two boats with the same ranking.
“I think we will definitely get one ticket but not sure which one. There is actually a pathway for three of the crews but most likely it will be the women’s singles or the men’s singles.”
Both Hong Kong’s men’s and women’s single sculls failed to reach the final.
Winne Hung Wing-yan had a strong start when she won her heat in nine minutes and 2.48 seconds to reach the semi-finals. However, she managed only a fourth place in her semi in 8:15.08, three seconds behind the third-placed South Korean rower. Hung could only reach the B-final, which she won in 8:17.10 to finish overall seventh.
In the men’s singles, Chan Chi-fung came second in the heats in 8:08.33 and advanced to the semi-finals where he also managed a fourth place. Chan, a multi world-record holder on the rowing ergometer, then came second in his B-final in 7:30.49 and finished eighth overall.
The women’s lightweight double sculls of Wong Sheung-yee and Leung Wing-wun finished second in the B-final with an overall eighth place.
Perry was disappointed they failed to secure a clear place by the end of the day and must rely on other teams to decide who they will send to the Games.
Rowing coach reflects on 32 years in charge of Hong Kong
“I think the two singles and the women‘s doubles raced up to standard. The lightweight men’s doubles had a very tough race and the performance was a little below what we had in training,” said the head coach. “Actually, they both worked really hard and maximum effort but maybe the coordination and timing together was a bit off.
“I am not disappointed by their effort, only that we could not get our best speed in the final. But it has been hard without any competition for nearly 1.5 years.”
Hong Kong rowers made their Olympic debut at the 1992 Barcelona Games with three members – Ho Kim-fai, Chiang Wing-hung and Lui Kam-chi – and the sport has been represented in every Olympics since.
