Hong Kong’s men claim historic foil team silver at Fencing World Championships
City squad lose final in heartbreaking fashion to Italy following narrow semi-final victory over USA and earlier success against Hungary
Hong Kong missed out on men’s foil team gold at the Kerry Fencing World Championships in agonising fashion on Tuesday, with a 45-44 defeat at the hands of Italy.
While the city team’s run to the final at AsiaWorld-Expo represented their best World Championships performance, eclipsing the bronze they won in Milan three years ago, the silver was tinged with disappointment.
Spearheaded by Cheung Ka-long, the two-time reigning Olympic champion, 2025 individual world gold medallist Ryan Choi Chun-yin and teenager Harris Ho, Hong Kong comfortably beat Macau and Belgium, before overcoming Hungary 45-37 in their quarter-final.
Thumped in the last-eight by USA 12 months ago, they gained revenge for that defeat with a gripping 45-43 semi-final victory over the Americans, but could not stop the Italians from retaining the crown they won last year, throwing away a final in which they led by as many as eight points at one stage.
The hosts entered the final bout with a 40-36 lead, but Choi was outscored 9-4 by Guillaume Bianchi, leaving the world No 7 apologising to his teammates right after the final.
“There was disappointment, but we achieved a very good result as a team today, and we all stood up to cheer and fight for our teammates when one of us was not playing well,” Cheung said. “It’s a shame to lose by one point, but our team spirit improved as we bonded together, and we could showcase our team’s strength steadily.