Tokyo Olympic fencing champion Edgar Cheung Ka-long becomes Hong Kong’s first foil world No 1
- The 24-year-old tops the world rankings after reaching quarter-finals in men’s singles at Belgrade World Cup
- Cheung shares some congratulatory messages on social media but stays focused for Monday’s team foil event
Tokyo Olympic champion Edgar Cheung Ka-long has become Hong Kong’s first foil world No 1 after reaching the quarter-finals at the Belgrade World Cup on Sunday.
Cheung did not directly address his momentous achievement on social media, but shared a number of congratulatory messages from fans to his Instagram story.
“Congrats, number 1 in the world,” wrote Hong Kong fencing team coach Greg Koenig.
The 24-year-old began the 2021-2022 season ranked fourth after claiming 96 winner’s points at the Games last summer.
He further narrowed the gap on Italian Alessio Foconi, whom he beat in the Tokyo semi-finals, after claiming gold at the FIE World Cup in Paris in January, where he earned 32 winner’s points to move up to the No 2 spot.
Cheung had 190 points before Belgrade, just two less than Foconi – who was upset 15-8 in the last 64 in Serbia by world No 136 James-Andrew Davis of Great Britain.