Alison Yu Chui-yee hopes to find ‘next Cheung Ka-long’ as beleaguered Fencing Sport Academy seeks recovery from Covid-19 closure
- Wheelchair fencing legend Yu wins gold at IWAS World Cup in Thailand, but thoughts turn to her struggling school
- Academy had 200 enrolments after Cheung’s historic gold in Tokyo, but ‘everything went back to zero’ when Hong Kong was hit by fifth wave of pandemic
Hong Kong’s wheelchair fencing legend Alison Yu Chui-yee is hoping to find the “next Cheung Ka-long” as her beleaguered school looks to recover from a financially – and emotionally – draining last few months.
Yu’s Fencing Sport Academy was on her mind when she won Hong Kong’s only title at the International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports World Cup in Thailand last weekend.
The team and individual world No 2 took gold in the women’s foil (A) individual event in Chon Buri, beating top seed Eva Andrea Hajmasi of Hungary 15-12 in the final, and gaining a measure of revenge after losing to the same woman in the Tokyo Paralympics foil team bronze final by one point.
The 38-year-old is still in Thailand with the Hong Kong team for another two weeks of training, but her thoughts frequently turn to her HK$1 million academy in Kwun Tong, which is still suffering after being closed for more than 100 days between February and April, amid a fifth wave of Covid-19 infections in the city.
“A medal was my goal in the World Cup, and I’m happy that I achieved it after we’ve suffered from Omicron spreading widely in Hong Kong over the last few months,” said Yu.
“We have had over 200 new enrolments in the last eight months as a result of Cheung Ka-long’s historic Olympic gold in fencing.