Tokyo 2020: Hong Kong rower Winnie Hung snatches Olympic ticket with seventh-place overall in qualification regatta
- Not easy for the lightweight rower racing against bigger rivals in open category
- Hung, 22, reached the final of 2019 under-23 World Championships, where she finished sixth
Promising Hong Kong rower Winnie Hung Wing-yan will make her Olympic debut in Tokyo this summer after booking a late ticket following the Asia and Oceania Olympic qualification regatta held in Japan last week.
Racing in the open category, the 22-year-old came seventh overall in the women’s single sculls at the Sea Forest Olympic venue in Tokyo and managed to grab a berth in her event.
The qualifiers brought together 50 crews from 18 countries in the region, racing in four events with a total 16 qualifying places for the Games (five for each of the two singles and three for each of the two lightweight doubles). A maximum of two places were available for a country who won more than one gold medal, and just one for other countries achieving a high enough ranking within the total quota for each event.
Racing conditions were challenging, according to head rowing coach Chris Perry, with the competition cancelled due to bad weather on the first day and all events subsequently compressed into two days. Racing a semi-final and final just hours apart, Hung won the B Final and captured a final quota ranking of fifth – taking the last of five Olympic tickets in her event.
Hong Kong eye single Olympic rowing ticket after qualifying regatta
Nonetheless, Perry was satisfied with the result.
“Racing as a lightweight rower in the open-class singles is not easy,” said the coach. “Before the retirement of Lee Ka-man we had been focused on the lightweight doubles event. Winne had a tough race to win the B Final and we are delighted that she has achieved a place for Tokyo. There is still a lot of work to do before the Games however.”
Hung was recruited through the Rowing Association’s talent identification programme in 2016 and became a full-time athlete at the Hong Kong Sports Institute the following year. She finished eighth in the open singles at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta before reaching the final of the 2019 World Under-23 Championships with a sixth place.
Winne Hung out of Olympic trials for failing to make weight
She was also a member of the women’s quad that won a gold at the 2019 World Coastal Championships in Hong Kong. Earlier this year she placed second in the U23 class at the World Indoor Championships.
Ng Kong-wan, chairman of the rowing association, said, “We are delighted Hung has stepped up following the retirement of our longest-serving athlete, Lee Ka-man. Hung is a great example of our next generation of young athletes and the experience of competing at an Olympic Games will be a huge incentive for her to strive for even more success in the future. We are all very proud of her.”
Hong Kong has been represented in rowing at every Olympic Games since Barcelona in 1992.
