Hong Kong’s Au Ling-yueng continued the city’s recent success on the water, winning the under-21 title and finishing third in the men’s open at a windsurfing competition in Spain. The 19-year-old led a strong showing from the Hong Kong contingent at the International IQFOIL Games Andalucia in Cadiz, with all four of the city’s windsurfers qualifying for the top 10 medal races on Sunday. It was quite an improvement for Au, who finished 16th in the Under-21, and 66th in the men’s open at the 2021 IQFOIL Worlds last August. Au started strongly, placing third with two firsts, seven thirds, four fifths, and one eleventh to earn 33 net points among a field of 34 men windsurfers before the medal race. His performance saw him finish first in the semi-finals earning entry to the last race, where he battled Brazil’s Mateus Isaac, the world No 3, and Spain’s Angel Granda Roque. Au finally got on the podium with third in men’s open and gold in the U21 category. Issac took first, with Roque in second. “It is my first time racing in Cadiz, so happy to have performed quite well with the men’s open competitors,” he said. Hong Kong windsurfing champions say the sport is ‘here to stay’ Au has been focusing on IQFOIL since early 2020 and finished third at last week’s Asian Sailing Championships in Abu Dhabi. All the members of the Hong Kong squad made it to the top-10 medal races, where Rafeek Kikabhoy and Cheng Ching-yin ranked seventh and 10th respectively in the men’s open, while Ma Kwan-ching came sixth in the women’s open. Chan King-yin, the head coach, was happy with the winter training in Hong Kong, which he contributed to his team’s strong showing. “It is only our second overseas IQFOIL competition so far, and I can see the improvement they’ve made from the winter training,” Chan said. Promising windsurfers Au and Ma star in Hong Kong Open Chan said Cadiz was a warm-up competition for the team ahead of the World Cup Series starting next month. “Though Cadiz is not a strong field, you still can’t underestimate those Europeans,” he said. “It is not easy for our team to get in the medal races. I am looking forward to the world cup series coming up and seeing how the Hong Kong windsurfers can improve from this race.” The women’s field was more competitive than the men’s, with a total of 24 participants, five of them ranked top 20 in the world. Ma, the reigning Asian Champion in IQFOIL, finished 14 races with fours firsts, and eventually came sixth in the medal race. The first three spots went to two Italians and one Spanish. Chan hopes Ma can put on some weight in preparation for the world cup and said the windsurfer has already shown she was competing “at the top level”. “We have to focus on improving her weight and speed to secure the highest performance in the future,” he said. Hong Kong team will remain in Spain, and travel to Palma de Mallorca on Tuesday for more training, ahead of the 51st Trofeo SAR Princesa Sofia Mallorca from April 2 to 9.
