Dominant Ma Kwan-ching wants to be next Hong Kong windsurfing queen

The 24-year-old won all six races on the opening day of the Haitong International Windsurfing Open Championships

Ma has spent the past two years training on the new iQFoil class and is targetting success at next year’s Asian Games

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Windsurfer Ma Kwan-ching, aims to become the next Hong Kong number one. Photo: WAHK

Published: 7:45pm, 16 Dec 2021Updated: 8:39pm, 16 Dec 2021

A determined Ma Kwan-ching wants to become Hong Kong’s next windsurfing queen, and took a big step towards that goal by wining all six races on the opening day of the 2021 Haitong International Windsurfing Open Championships on Thursday.

Surfing on the new iQFoil class, the 24-year-old was unstoppable in Stanley, leaving second placed Mak Cheuk-wing far behind.

Up-and-coming Mak, a former world junior champion, scored a net 11 penalty points while Ma had five after one discard. Two-time Olympian Hayley Chan Hei-man, now training on a part-time basis to focus on her university studies, was third with 13 points.

With Chan fading out of her elite career, Ma has been strongly tipped to take over, as she set sights on next year’s Asian Games in Hangzhou and the 2024 Paris Games.

French windsurfer Ambre Papazian rides during an iQFoil training session in Marseille, southern France. At 21 years old, Papazian will be Hong Kong’s major rival in the new Olympic windsurfing class at the 2024 Olympic Games. Photo: AFP

Both multi-sport games will adopt the iQFoil, although the RSX, which has been used since the 2008 Beijing Olympics, will be kept in Hangzhou alongside the new class.

Ma, who has been training on the new equipment for two years after failing qualify for the Tokyo Olympics this summer, said it would be a big boost to her career if she became the city’s next top boardsailor.