Junior fencing world champion Cheng Tit-nam talks Olympic ambition, but says Paris 2024 may be too soon
- The 17-year-old prodigy faces a tough task of securing his place in the Hong Kong team
- The DBS student still has one more year of secondary studies to finish and says for now, education will be his priority
Fencing junior world champion Cheng Tit-nam has set his sights on the Olympic Games but 2024 Paris may be too soon for the ambitious youngster.
The 17-year-old prodigy was crowned the foil champion at April’s junior and cadet World Championships in Dubai, where he defeated Germany’s Ruben Lindner in the cadet final.
Cheng became the fourth junior world champion from Hong Kong, following in the footsteps of Karen Chang Ngai-hing in 2013, Cheung Ka-long in 2017 and Kaylin Hsieh Sin-yan in 2018.
“Every athlete wants to challenge the Olympic Games and I am no exception,” the ambitious youngster said. “But I reckon there is still some time to go before I can reach the same standard of our senior squad members. They are all very powerful.”
“If I want to become part of the squad for the 2024 Olympics, I will have to improve my world ranking through taking part in the World Cup series that begin in November. But my school studies plus the existing quarantine requirements when returning to Hong Kong poses many difficulties.
“I certainly want to give it a try as one day I have to compete as a senior athlete, but I will take this step by step. I am quite realistic about my targets in the near future.”
Hong Kong’s men foil squad, headed by reigning Olympic individual champion and world No 2 Cheung Ka-long, has been a mainstay in the top 10, in addition to his world No 7 team ranking in the just concluded season.