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Hong Kong's Cheung Ka-long could not inspire the men’s foil team to victory against the ROC team in their quarter-final match. Photo: AFP
SportHong Kong

Tokyo Olympics: Hong Kong’s team foil medal hopes dashed after quarter-final loss to defending champions ROC

  • Hong Kong’s men’s foil team falls short against defending Olympic champions from the ROC
  • Cheung Ka-long again shines, but it’s not enough to secure a shot at the podium
Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games
Paul Ryding
Paul Rydingin Tokyo
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Hong Kong’s men were beaten 45-39 by the Russian Olympic Committee in the team foil event at the Makuhari Messe hall in Chiba on Sunday morning to bring a sudden and premature end to their fencing campaign, which promised so much more.

On the final day of fencing at Tokyo 2020, fifth seeded Hong Kong were beaten by fourth seeds ROC in an enthralling contest, with only Olympic gold hero Cheung Ka-long and inexperienced youngster Lawrence Ng Lok-wang emerging with any credit on a disappointing day for coach Greg Koenig’s men.
Hong Kong’s fencers are dejected after being dumped out of the team foil event at Tokyo 2020. Photo: Elsa/Getty Images
Hopes were high for the Hong Kong team after Cheung secured an unlikely gold medal in the individual event last Monday. But even a classy showing from the 24-year-old could not bridge the gap to the dominant Russians, the defending Olympic champions in the discipline.
Coach Koenig had warned excited supporters about the threat the Russians would carry after Cheung’s win, and his words were proven true. It was a sparkling display from the ROC, who have already claimed seven medals, including three golds, during the Tokyo 2020 fencing campaign.

Hong Kong’s men trailed from the piste dejected after the loss. Always playing catch-up in the contest, they were given hope of an unlikely fightback from 25-17 behind at the midway point in the match, thanks in large part to the brilliance of their gold-medal hero Cheung and a tremendous debut performance from 21-year-old Ng in the seventh relay against former world junior champion Vladislav Mylnikov.

Ng, who had spent the whole campaign parked with the coaching staff as the alternate man for Koenig’s team, seized his chance to impress at the highest level with a super display. He offers real hope for the future of Hong Kong’s fencing programme on the basis of his showing on Sunday.

Cheung claimed victory in two of the three relays he contested, losing out only in the final period of the match after registering the first two touches of the round to briefly bring the total score almost level at 38-40.

However, the Russian team, which topped the fencing medal tally at the 2016 Games in Rio, proved too strong down the home straight and wrapped up the marathon, near 70-minute bout shortly before time expired on the match and Hong Kong’s medal hopes.

A bad day for Hong Kong’s foilers was compounded when they were later beaten in the 5-8 classification match by the unseeded German side, who were forced to come through an early morning qualifier even to make the last-eight.

An uninspired Hong Kong went down 45-38 with Ng again impressing as he edged two of the three relays he contested. Cheung lost each of his three rounds.

They will now compete for seventh place against Egypt later in the afternoon. A seventh-place finish would match the finishing position of Hong Kong’s women’s épée team in their event.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Cheung and his teammates fail to deliver in team foil
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