Road to Paris 2024: Hong Kong and China to fight it out for spot at Olympic Games in women’s fencing
- Hong Kong finished 8th while China was 12th at World Championships in Milan
- Two épée teams now level on ranking points with four World Cup series left before Olympic qualification closes
Hong Kong’s women will need to outfight their Chinese counterparts to secure a place at next year’s Paris Olympics, after both teams finished the World Championships level on ranking points.
A narrow 29-26 defeat in the épée quarter-finals to Italy eventually led to captain Vivian Kong Man-wai and her team finishing the tournament in eight after back-to-back loses to France and Israel.
China’s women fared little better, ending their championships in 12th. The results left the regional rivals level on 214 points, and ninth and 10th in the rankings.
With four World Cup series events left before qualification closes for the 2024 Games, Wong Tsan, a former vice-president of Fencing Association, said the unpredictable nature of the épée discipline meant the two sides would have to “battle until the last qualification event”.
That event is in Chengdu in March next year, and Wong said while China were considered a “traditional power” in the sport, Hong Kong’s women had upped their games.
He singled out Kaylin Hsieh Sin-yan for praise, saying the University of Notre Dame student and 2022 NCAA champion, had shown “marked improvement”.
The 22-year-old Hsieh has to opted to put her degree on hold so she can concentrate on preparing for the new World Cup season, which starts in November.
“Nonetheless, Hong Kong must finish ahead of the mainland in each of the four remaining series if they want to keep their qualification hopes alive,” Wong said.
With no chance of getting into the top four automatic qualifying spots, Hong and China will need to secure one of the spots available regionally in the hope they can compete in the team and individual events.
Qualification for the 2024 Paris Olympics lasts for one year with the World Cup series in Chengdu, China in March to complete the campaign.
