Hong Kong fencers prepare to compete at World Championships on home soil for first time
Ryan Choi, Cheung Ka-long and Kaylin Hsieh skip the qualifiers and receive a bye to the main draw thanks to their top 16 ranking
City fencers will join over 1,000 top competitors from more than 200 countries and regions to battle for 12 gold medals at the Fencing World Championships in Hong Kong on Wednesday.
Held at AsiaWorld-Expo over nine days, the event marks the first time Hong Kong has staged the senior Fencing World Championships, the highest-tier tournament globally this year.
Among Hong Kong’s 24 fencers at the event, home favourites include men’s foilists Ryan Choi Chun-yin – the defending champion currently ranked world No 2 – and two-time Olympic gold medallist Cheung Ka-long, who sits at No 15 after winning team gold at last year’s National Games. They are joined by world No 13 women’s épéeist Kaylin Hsieh Sin-yan.
Ranked in the top 16, all three receive a bye through the qualifiers starting on Wednesday directly into Saturday’s main draw of 64.
Hoping to get out of the qualifiers and into the main draw are men’s épéeist Cedric Ho Wai-hang and sabreist Aaron Ho Sze-long, who are joined by four young fencers making their World Championships debuts on home soil – foilists Harris Ho Shing-him and Janelle Leung Ya-lei and sabreists Royce Chan Lok-hei and Lau Yee-ching.
High expectations also surround mainland Chinese fencers in what is a pivotal transition year for the national fencing programme, following a historic best performance of three gold and four silver medals at the World Cadets and Juniors Fencing Championships in April in Brazil.
