Asian Games: Hong Kong fencers ‘more confident’ thanks to new coach’s gruelling training regime
- South Korean coach Lee Wook-jae doubles the Hong Kong sabre team’s daily training hours ahead of showpiece in Hangzhou
- Low Ho-tin admits ‘there were doubts’ after he saw new schedule but says the biggest gain for team has been ‘change in state of mind’
The Hong Kong sabre team is ramping up training just weeks away from the start of the Asian Games in Hangzhou, and fencer Low Ho-tin is seeing the team’s hard work yield lofty improvements thanks to new coach Lee Wook-jae.
Low, who won bronze in the 2018 Jakarta Games, admitted that when he first read the new training schedule during his week-long break following the World Championships in Milan, he “didn’t believe” it.
“There were doubts,” the 31-year-old said. “We basically doubled our daily training, from two two-hour sessions to almost four hours each. It was tough and exhausting, to the point that you cannot really train the next day.
“We were in such a loop, it’s a test of one’s mental toughness, but we just hung onto our mindset, pushed through and now there is definitely more confidence for us ahead of the Games.”
Low, who is heading into his third Asian Games, credited the team’s improvements to Lee, who took the helm in January.
“The biggest gain for the team has to be the change of our state of mind,” he said. “And stamina, too.