Hong Kong Olympic fencer Ryan Choi earns praise from Canto-pop boy band Mirror after Incheon triumph – ‘proud of you’
- Olympic fencer Ryan Choi heads into the Asian and World Championships with a new sense of confidence, after claiming silver at Incheon Grand Prix
- Edan Lui, Choi’s university roommate and a member of Canto-pop boy band Mirror, praises his performance on social media
Hong Kong Olympic fencer Ryan Choi Chun-yin said he has “redeemed” himself after storming to second place in Sunday’s Incheon Grand Prix, ending a competitive slump and drawing praise from Edan Lui of Canto-pop boy band Mirror.
The 24-year-old stunned Italy’s recently deposed world No 1 Alessio Foconi in the semi-finals, before dispatching reigning world champion Enzo Lefort on his way to the final in South Korea where he narrowly lost by one point to world No 9 Tommaso Marini.
It was Choi’s best result since claiming bronze at the Grand Prix three years ago, after which he suffered a string of disappointing results that left him questioning his future.
The foilist believes he can now continue his momentum into the Asian Championships in June and the World Championships in Cairo in mid-July. He will also compete at the President’s Cup Fencing Championships in Hong Kong on June 5.
“I had bad results in too many competitions,” Choi told the Post. “Every loss was very sad, none of them were like, oh let’s chill until the next one. The more you lose the more you question yourself.
“I just keep on reminding myself to stay strong, keep on trying to recover my mentality as soon as possible.
“There were many days I wanted to give up on myself, but there are even more days I remind myself not to give up, I feel like I redeemed myself with this silver.”
Choi was overcome with emotion after winning the silver medal in Incheon, revealing on Instagram that the past four months had been challenging.
“All the pain, all the struggles, all the disbeliefs. It hurts a lot, it tears my heart apart,” he wrote. “The tough times makes this sweet time much much much sweeter. Thank you God for the blessings. Thank you everyone for the support during the hard times.”
Since winning a team bronze medal at the National Games last September, Choi’s fencing journey has not been easy. After moving to France for a six month training camp in December last year, he went on to compete in six tournaments. Good results, however, were hard to find.
While he finished sixth at his first world cup competition in January, subsequent tournaments in Cairo and Belgrade saw him knocked out in either the first or second rounds. His Incheon triumph was something to celebrate.
“Grateful for all I have.....What a way to end this long long trip,” said Choi, who returns to Hong Kong on Tuesday evening.
It wasn’t just Choi who was celebrating. Edan Lui, Choi’s university roommate and one of the members of Canto-pop boy band Mirror, praised his performance.
“Proud of you!!!,” Lui wrote.
Meanwhile, Cheung Ka-long retained his world No 1 title in the latest FIE rankings, despite being knocked out in the first round in Incheon, with 196 points. Choi slipped from seventh to 10th with 106 points after cancelling out some points from the previous season.
Italian Daniele Garozzo (181 points) and Alessio Foconi (160 points) placed second and third in the world, respectively.
