Hong Kong Olympian Ryan Choi shakes off disappointing year to claim President’s Cup gold, eyes Asian Championships glory
- Tokyo Olympian clinches individual foil title after suffering through hard times over the past 10 months
- 17-year-old Daphne Chan stuns Sophia Wu in women’s individual foil final to win first senior title
Hong Kong Olympian Ryan Choi Chun-yin claimed the men’s individual foil title at the President’s Cup on Sunday, shaking off a tough year ahead of next week’s Asian Championships.
The world No 10 gave newly crowned world junior champion Cheng Tit-nam a wake up call at Hong Kong Park Sports Centre, cruising to an overwhelming 15-1 victory in the final.
He also comfortably dispatched fellow Hong Kong team member Lawrence Ng Lok-wang 15-4 in the semi-finals.
“I won’t say I have an outstanding performance today but was able to deliver what I have expected,” Choi said. “Before I was hardly a stable fencer always suffering ups and downs but after what happened over the past year, I have become a much more mature athlete and handled the pressure well. That’s possibly why I won today.
“But I have spent a lot of hard work and effort to overcome the difficult time after a disappointing Tokyo Olympics last summer when I had great expectations but failed to perform.
“I then reached the quarter-finals in the National Games but when the new season began, I endured a long list of poor performance and started blaming poor destiny for the unfavourable results. It was not until the Grand Prix in Incheon last month that I finally sorted things out.
“It has been a great learning experience and now I can look forward to the Asian Championships [in Korea] later this week. Hopefully I can continue with my fine form to return with some good results.”
