Road to Paris Olympics: world No 1 can’t win Hong Kong team a 2024 spot on her own, coach warns before fencing’s World Cup
- The World Cup in Fujairah will be the first team competition counting towards Paris 2024 qualification
- Hong Kong’s women’s épée squad are spearheaded by top-ranked Vivian Kong, but her teammates have been told they too must perform
World No 1 Vivian Kong Man-wai will aim to translate her individual feats to her team’s Paris 2024 qualification quest when Hong Kong’s women’s epeeists compete in the World Cup in United Arab Emirates this week.
The competition in Fujairah is the first opportunity for Hong Kong to earn points towards earning a spot at the Olympics as a team, which would mean the city could also send three fencers to the French capital for the individual event, rather than only their top-ranked one.
And Kong goes into the World Cup with momentum, having two weeks ago returned to the top of the rankings when she won the Grand Prix event in Cali, Colombia.
“The team competition is very important on our road to Paris,” Hong Kong fencing head coach Zheng Kangzhao said.
“Asia has some of the best epeeists in the world. We have Vivian, but one fencer will not be not enough for us – the entire team have to perform.”
That puts the onus on the rest of the Hong Kong squad in Fujairah, namely Kaylin Hsieh Sin-yan, Chan Wai-ling and Coco Lin Yik-hei.
After a few days’ training in France following their individual efforts at the Grand Prix in Colombia, the team arrived in the Middle East early this week.
Zheng said that he was pleased with Hsieh’s return to the Hong Kong squad after the completion of the National Collegiate Athletics Association season in the United States, where she studies at the University of Notre Dame.
“She has made improvements since she went to the States and is a key member of the team,” he said.
Hong Kong go into the competition sitting in sixth place in the rankings, just behind China, with South Korea still at the top.
“There will be keen competition between those three,” Zheng said. “We hope to finish above them at the end of the qualification, but we will see how they get on in Fujairah first.”
The World Cup will also feature an individual event, which starts on Friday with Kong expected to keep intact her cushion ahead of the rest at No 1.
The Hong Kong men’s foil squad, meanwhile, are preparing to compete in the Grand Prix event in Shanghai this weekend.
Cheung Ka-long could even give the city another rankings leader by finishing the competition back in the individual foil No 1 spot.
The Olympic champion, who a fortnight ago was the losing finalist in the World Cup in Mexico, will need to finish ahead of Tommaso Marini of Italy if he is to climb back to the summit.
The pair are tied on ranking points, with Marini remaining at the top by virtue of having recorded the more victories this season.
