Cheung Ka-long retains world No 1 ranking despite falling to Italian Tommaso Marini at Plovdiv World Cup in Bulgaria
- Cheung Ka-long was beaten in the final 16 by 22-year-old and world No 20 Tommaso Marini, but comfortably retains his world No 1 ranking
- Former world No 1 Vivian Kong Man-wai had an easy win over German Alexandra Ndolo before succumbing to Katharine Holmes of the United States
Hong Kong fencing sensation Cheung Ka-long, having concluded a nearly five-month-long European trip with a world number No 1 position and a world cup title, will lead the team back to Asia later this month, but a Grand Prix in Incheon awaits.
The European Tour ended on Sunday when Hong Kong, spearheaded by the current world No 1 Cheung, finished ninth in the team event at the Plovdiv World Cup in Bulgaria.
The 24-year-old Olympic champion competed as world No 1 for the first time last weekend in Plovdiv, where he won his junior world title in 2017, but with different results this time. Cheung, boosted by his top ranking since mid-April, scored a comfortable triumph in the World Cup individuals, which comprised 188 individual fencers and 24 teams competing.
The 1.93m Hongkonger advanced to the last-16 by defeating Isaac Jolley of the United Kingdom 15-7 in the round of 64 and Marcello Olivares of the United States 15-9 in the last-32.
Cheung, however, was beaten 15-8 in the final 16 by 22-year-old and world No 20 Italian Tommaso Marini who won his maiden world cup gold medal two weeks ago in Belgrade, the same venue where Cheung was crowned world No 1.
Despite the loss, Cheung remains comfortably in first place with 205 points in the newly-updated world ranking list, followed by Italian Daniele Garozzo, the runner-up in Plovdiv, in second place with 183 points, and Japanese Takahiro Shikine in third place with 181 points.