Hong Kong claim silver in women’s team épée final, South Korea too strong despite presence of individual champion Vivian Kong
- World No 1 and Tokyo Olympic silver medallists South Korea beat Hong Kong 39-27 for gold
- Hong Kong’s men also claim bronze in the team sabre after losing to South Korea 45-31 in the semi-finals
Hong Kong had to settle for a silver medal despite the presence of newly crowned champion Vivian Kong Man-wai after losing to South Korea in the women’s épée team final at the Asian Championships in Seoul on Monday.
Kong, who lifted the individual épée champion on the opening day of the regional championships last Friday, could not stop her team’s stronger rivals as they lost 39-27.
“The result did not surprise me too much as the Koreans are the world number one and silver medallists at the Tokyo Olympics,” Zheng Kangzhao, the head coach, said.
“Our girls did put up a strong fight trying to get something out of it but, to be honest, there is still a considerable gap to close against the Koreans.”
Even without their world No 1 Choi In-jeong, the Koreans were still leading from the opening stages against a Hong Kong team that also featured Natalie Chan Wai-ling, Coco Lin Yik-hei and Moonie Chu Ka-mong.
Choi was beaten by Kong in the individual final, while Chan was the joint bronze medallist in the individual event with Japan’s Nozomi Sato.