Olympic fencing champion Cheung Ka-long makes Hong Kong history again with World Cup gold
- World No 4 Cheung beats Italian Luperi in the final after stunning world No 1 Foconi in the semis
- Chief Executive Carrie Lam hails Olympic champion’s performance, says he has made the city very proud
Tokyo Olympic fencing champion Cheung Ka-long has made Hong Kong history once again after winning men’s individual foil gold at the FIE World Cup in Paris.
The 24-year-old beat Edoardo Luperi of Italy 15-12 in Saturday’s final in what was his first international outing since the Summer Games.
Cheung, the world No 4, impressed throughout the competition, including a blitzing of world No 1 and former world champion Alessio Foconi of Italy 15-4 in their semi-final.
On the way to the final, Cheung first edged out France’s Alexandre Ediri 15-13, then former Asian Games and Asian Championships gold medallist Ha Tae-gyu 15-14 in the round of 32. He overpowered Ha’s South Korean compatriot Kim Dong-su 15-5, and France’s Enzo Lefort 15-9, before shocking Foconi and Luperi.
With less than an hour’s break until the final against Luperi, Cheung trailed by five points before securing another monumental win.
“I’m so proud of what [Cheung] did, it’s amazing,” coach and France native Greg Koenig said in a video posted on Instagram.