2024 Paris Olympics: Hong Kong fencers still looking for ideal ‘third man’ for foil team ahead of Games qualification
- The city finished sixth at World Cup event in Cairo on Sunday and needs to strengthen squad before qualification process starts in April
- Head coach Zhang Kangzhao says needs to find support for top 2 Cheung Ka-long and Ryan Choi
Hong Kong’s fencers are still looking for the ‘third man’ for the men’s foil team before the qualification period for the 2024 Paris Olympics gets under way in a month’s time.
The squad returns home this week after wrapping up a two-month training and competition stint in Europe with a sixth-place finish in the World Cup event in Cairo on Sunday.
Hong Kong were narrowly beaten 45-41 by Italy, the top side in the world, in the quarter-finals, before suffering another close defeat to the United States 45-42 in the fifth-place play-off.
Japan, Hong Kong’s major rivals on their road to Paris 2024, were crowned the champions after beating Italy 45-43 in the final.
Head coach Zhang Kangzhao, however, was not too disappointed with the result, but said he would be happier if they could find the final piece to the squad for Olympic qualification.
“We have two quality members in the squad who are able to take on any top fencer but unfortunately we always lose points in the third one,” said the coach. “We have been trying to fix that problem but it seems we still need more hard work on that.