Hong Kong fencer Ryan Choi Chun-yin looks to the past to ride through rough patch
- Former world No 7 Choi has reached the round of 16 only once in six competitions this season
- Asian Championship bronze medallist confident of rebounding in time for 2024 Paris Olympics qualification cycle
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The 25-year-old recorded his best finish at the season-opening World Cup in Bonn, Germany, last November, bowing out in the round of 16.
Left-handed foilist Choi failed to make it to the same stage at his next five events, and crashed out in the first round on three occasions.
“My condition and form has not been good, to say the least,” Choi said. “It was partly a mental thing – I had far too much fear in those competitions.
“I know I have to be more confident about myself when I am on the piste. I have to fear and worry less and be more determined about my actions.”
Former world No 7 Choi’s poor form has seen him slip to his lowest ranking – No 21 – since the 2018-19 season.
“I always wanted to get to the top of the world as soon as possible,” the city’s No 2 men’s foilist said. “But it turned out it may not be the right timing just yet.”
The 2014 Youth Olympics silver medallist also experienced a loss of confidence early last year.
A timely silver medal at the Grand Prix in Incheon, South Korea, last May – followed by a career-first bronze at the Asian Championship in Seoul a month later – helped lift Choi up, however, and he remains confident he will be able to find form again before his next competition.
“There is still much room for improvement,” he said. “It is depressing and frustrating as you figure out there are new problems each and every competition.
“But I just have to remind myself to keep working hard and stay focused and it surely will pay off eventually.”
The qualification cycle for the 2024 Paris Olympics begins in April. Fencers can accumulate individual points from then until April 2024, with the first men’s foil event – a World Cup series – happening in Acapulco, Mexico from May 5-7.
With only one highest-ranked athlete per NOC (National Olympic Committee) and one per zone (Europe, Asia-Oceania, America, Africa) qualifying for Paris, securing a berth via team qualification remains the best option for Choi and his teammates if they are to compete next summer.
World No 6 Hong Kong can qualify for the Olympics as one of the top four teams in the world by next April, or as the leading Asian team if the continent is not in the top four.
Hong Kong competed in the Olympic men’s foil team event for the first time in Tokyo in 2021, finishing seventh.
Choi – one of three fencers representing the city in the individual event – failed to progress past the round of 16 after losing to Japan’s Takahiro Shikine.
