Vera Lui looks to become fifth active Asian woman to finish 100m hurdles in under 13 seconds
- Hong Kong hurdler needs to reach that level if she wants a repeat success of Asian Games bronze medal in Hangzhou in September
- Lui is now taking part in a training camp in western Germany before her first race in France in two weeks
Vera Lui Lai-yiu aims to become the fifth active Asian women’s hurdler to finish in under 13 seconds with the help of overseas athletes, as she prepares for the forthcoming Hangzhou continental Games in September.
Hong Kong’s top hurdler is in Germany for a training camp with her coach Tang Hon-sing and two men’s counterparts, Cheung Wang-fung and Mui Ching-yeung.
“There are four Asian women at the moment that can run under 13 seconds in the 100 metre hurdles, two from China and two from Japan,” said coach Tang. “There is also a Taiwan athlete that has a personal best of 13.1 seconds.
“Against these quality athletes, Lui will find it very difficult in the Hangzhou Games to repeat her success of a bronze medal in Jakarta four years ago unless she can reach a similar standard like these hurdlers and that’s why we brought her to the overseas training camp.
“Many athletes here can finish around 13 seconds which will be quite difficult to find in the Asian region and racing against them can certainly help Lui improve her standard.”
The 27-year-old has a personal best of 13.32 seconds set in the 2019 Asian Championships in Doha, when she came fourth in the final. However, she also recorded a wind assisted 13.18 seconds in the Asia Grand Prix in Chongqing, China the same year.