Karate exponent Lau Chi-ming secures kata bronze for Hong Kong at National Games

Inspired by his sister Grace Lau’s performance in the same event at the Tokyo Olympics, Lau defeated Guangdong opponent in the medal play-off

Jimmy Lee falls short in men’s 75kg kumite, losing his bronze medal play-off to Shanxi rival

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Lau Chi-ming celebrates his bronze in men's kata with coach Li Pui-ki. Photo: The Karatedo Federation of Hong Kong

Published: 9:11pm, 18 Sep 2021Updated: 1:43pm, 19 Sep 2021

Karate exponent Lau Chi-ming won bronze for Hong Kong at the National Games after a long absence from competition which was brought on by the pandemic and a serious knee injury.

Inspired by the bronze medal success of his younger sister Grace Lau Mo-sheung at the Tokyo Olympics, Lau won the men’s kata medal play-off against Yang Kangwei of Guangdong. He scored 24.82 points, compared to Yang’s 24.12.

“I was very confident even before the match of winning [bronze] as I came here with the aim of winning gold,” said Lau after the match at Xian Polytechnics University. “But unfortunately I did not perform well enough in the semi-finals,” said the Hong Kong karate player who tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in January last year, requiring surgery. “After losing in the semi-final, I had to contend for bronze and not gold.

Karate exponent Lau Chi-ming has won bronze for Hong Kong in men’s kata at the National Games. Photo: Handout

“But I still treasure this result very much as this is my first medal in a multi-sport games. I did quite well before at other events such as the World Championships but I still missed out on a medal and got a top-eight position [instead]. Last year in January, I suffered a cruciate ligament injury and needed an operation and then the pandemic came. In fact, this is my first competition since 2019 so I am very happy to have won a medal.”

The karate bronze is the fourth medal for Hong Kong in the Games so far after the track cycling team captured one gold and two bronze medals. Jimmy Lee Ka-wai was close to adding another bronze for Hong Kong but lost his third place play-off to Gao Xuanyi of Shanxi in men’s 75kg kumite.