World Games: Hong Kong’s wushu athletes target medal glory as sport makes welcome return after 9 years
- City has sent 4 athletes to compete in the martial art, with teen Michelle Yeung taking part in her first adult event
- Yeung will compete in the women’s nanquan & nandao combined event on Wednesday
Hong Kong’s wushu athletes are looking to continue the city’s tradition of winning medals at the World Games, with the sport returning to the event for the first time since 2013.
Wushu was missing from the previous multi-sport bonanza nine years ago in Colombia, but has returned this time around in the United States.
The city has sent four wushu athletes to the competition, including 19-year-old Michelle Yeung, who will compete in the women’s nanquan & nandao combined event on Wednesday.
“This is not only my first World Games, but also my first adult event,” the squad’s youngest member said. “To be honest, I’m a little nervous, but hopefully I can finish with a medal.”
Yeung, who is a full-time athlete, will be up against competitor from the US, Ukraine, Mexico, Chile and Vietnam, but said she thought she was her own “toughest opponent”.
The teen was a triple-gold medallist at the 2017 Gumi Asian Junior Wushu Championships, in daoshu, gunshu and changquan.
Wushu was an invitational sport at the World Games in 2009 and 2013, with Zheng Tianhui winning gold in the women’s jianshu & qiangshu in Cali in 2013.
