Hong Kong’s Olympic fencing champion Edgar Cheung Ka-long has a chance to become world No 1 this weekend, but he has already achieved the distinction of being nominated for TC Candler’s “100 Most Handsome Faces” of 2022. Cheung, who could overtake Alessio Foconi of Italy in the rankings when he competes at the FIE Belgrade World Cup, joined distinguished company when film critic website TC Candler announced his nomination on Tuesday. His fellow Tokyo Olympian, Hong Kong’s double silver medal-winning swimmer Siobhan Haughey , was nominated for the “100 Most Beautiful Faces” list earlier this month. It is the first time in 30 years of the lists that Hong Kong athletes have been nominated, and they join the likes of Arsenal’s Ben White, K-pop idol and former Hong Kong fencer Jackson Wang, and Canto-pop boy band Mirror. Nominations are made through membership platform Patreon and YouTube, with voting to take place in December for what claims to be “the most internationally recognised and prestigious list of its kind”. “Aesthetic perfection is only one of the criteria,” the list’s website states. “Grace, elegance, originality, daring, passion, class, poise, joy, promise, hope … they are all embodied in a beautiful face.” That vote may be out of Cheung’s hands, but the 24-year-old is focused on what he can have some say over, at the World Cup series in Belgrade this weekend. Last Saturday, Cheung captured silver at a long-established event in Moulins, central France. On his way to the final of the Challenge 3 Moulins Habitat, a men’s foil competition held since 1969, Cheung overpowered world No 49 Pierre Loisel of France 15-6 in the semi-finals. The final produced a close match between two Olympic champions as Cheung faced Enzo Lefort of France, a team gold medallist in Tokyo, who defeated the Hongkonger 15-10. Cheung had won individual foil gold – Hong Kong’s first – at the FIE World Cup in Paris in January, propelling him to a career-high world ranking of No 2. He has 190 ranking points after finishing in the last 32 of the World Cup in Cairo in February, just two points behind world No 1 Foconi. Who is Hong Kong Olympic gold medallist Cheung Ka-long? A strong field of 217 foilists, including eight from Hong Kong, will compete this weekend. Both Cheung and world No 6 Ryan Choi Chun-yin have direct entries into the elimination stages on Saturday, while the rest will compete on Friday in the pool stages for a place in the last 64. If Cheung can take the top ranking in Belgrade, with 32 points available for winning, he will be Hong Kong’s first male fencer to do so. Women’s epeeist Vivian Kong man-wai became Hong Kong’s first fencer to win a World Cup when she did so in Cuba in 2019.