Young guns Au Ling-yeung and Ma Kwan-ching maintain leads at Hong Kong Open Windsurfing Championships

The city’s top windsurfers made the most of Stanley’s turbulent winds on day three of the 2021 Haitong International Hong Kong Open Windsurfing Championships on Saturday. With one eye on this month’s selection competition for the 2022 Asian Games, wonderkid Jason Au Ling-yeung and in-form Ma Kwan-ching guided their new high-speed iQFOiL class boards to first place in the senior men’s and women’s categories, respectively. More than 70 windsurfers competed across four course races and one marathon to set up a scintillating final round on Sunday. “The winds were much stronger than the last couple of days, and that helped my performance because I’m physically quite big,” said 19-year-old Au, who dropped just 19 net penalty points. Au was still a youth athlete when the coronavirus-postponed Open was last held in 2019. “I’m very happy to have performed quite stably, and I think I made the right decisions, so it’s good to get a good result.” With the crucial internal selection for the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games on December 27, it was a good opportunity for Au and fellow competitors to further acclimatise to the conditions. “I want to represent Hong Kong at the Asian Games 2022 and Olympic Games 2024, so I hope I can win the selection competition,” Au said. Au and fellow promising windsurfers Cheng Ching-yin and Kikabhoy Rafeek have been training with iQFOiL for around two years – much longer than the likes of senior teammate and two-time Olympian Michael Cheng Chun-leung, who finished behind the boys in fourth. Second-placed men’s prospect Cheng, 22, was “a bit disappointed” to have dropped the lead, but was nonetheless encouraged by his trajectory ahead of national team selection. “It’s good to be back after two years without the Hong Kong Open,” he said. “It was a bit unfamiliar because we rarely get these four-day events – usually a domestic competition is about two days – so I’m thankful to the Windsurfing Association of Hong Kong for organising such a big event. “Of course, my goal is to get to and contend for a medal at the Asian Games. But before that I want to go to more European events. I’ve only been overseas to compete once this year and since there’s a new class, everything is new, and I want learn from the techniques and skills of other international windsurfers.” Third-placed Rafeek, who dropped a place from the previous day, was confident he would improve and “hopefully catch up” for the final round. “It’s been pretty interesting to be racing with our teammates,” the 24-year-old said. “Though [international competitors] can’t race here yet, it’s still pretty fun. We’ve had some practice races, but not like these regattas. “This is a good chance for us to prepare for the four or five-day selection race that the coaches set for us. That is the most important one. My target is to win the selection race, manage a place in the Asian Games, which are not far away. I am a bit nervous but will do my best.” The 24-year-old Ma, who won all six races on the opening day, continued her fine form in the colder conditions to drop just 14 net points. Second and third-placed teammates Mak Cheuk-wing and two-time Olympian Hayley Chan Hei-man followed closer than in previous rounds. “The Open has been very competitive so far. I’m so happy that we got to have a full course race because it gives us that competitive feel,” Ma said. “The marathon was the toughest because everyone has been out at sea for two days straight with not much time to relax in between. We managed to finish the marathon, unlike the first day when it was cancelled [owing to no winds] mid-race. “I hope the winds continue. It’s all about the start because in Stanley the winds are not very stable and sometimes it’s difficult to predict.” Ma said consistency will be key for the selection race because national team coaches will calculate the roughly 30 races without the conventional score deduction system. In other words, “we need to keep consistent no matter what”. For former junior world champion Mak, the return to full domestic competition is welcome as she too vies for an Asian Games spot. “Cold and windy conditions means higher speeds. We had to re-set our equipment this morning,” Mak said. “We don’t get as much wind in Hong Kong, so I’m satisfied with my performance. “Because of the pandemic, we would train or have internal competitions in groups, so to have a four-day Open gives us a much more exciting spirit.” With the RS:X class ending its Olympic stint at this year’s Tokyo Games, a new iQFOiL class will be introduced at the 2024 Paris Games. The 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games will feature both classes as a transition arrangement. There is only one Hong Kong spot for each class at the Asian Games. Competitors have a further six races on Sunday, bringing it to a total of 24 over the four days. Should all the races take place, the contingents’ five worst scores will be discarded.