Hong Kong fencers are on the right track for the 2020 Olympic Games as Edgar Cheung Ka-long claimed his first silver medal at grand prix level.
At the Turin event featuring more than 200 top fencers, the talented foilist made it all the way to the final, securing a 15-7 win over 2016 Rio Olympics silver medallist Alexander Massialas of the United States in the last-eight, before he was beaten by world number one Race Imboden, also from the United States.
“It’s just a start for us – for the entire Hong Kong foil team,” said world number eight Cheung after the final.”
His previous best result was a bronze medal in the 2017 world cup series in Cairo, Egypt.
“The 2020 Olympics qualification will begin in May and I will do my utmost to make it for Hong Kong,” Cheung added.
There are five world cup series and three grand prix events this season before the Asian and World Championships.
Cheung, 21, did not impress in the first three world cup series legs, finishing a disappointing 35th in the last leg in Tokyo in January.
The grand prix, however, carries more ranking points than the series.
The next men’s foil world cup will take place in Cairo in March, to be followed by a grand prix in Anaheim, California.
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Cheung paid special tribute to his new coach Gregory Koenig, who joined the Hong Kong Sports Institute from the Taiwan national team after last year’s Asian Games.
Cheung’s silver medal came just one day after another Hong Kong fencer, Vivian Kong Man-wai, captured her second world cup series gold medal in the women’s epee in less than a month.
Both Cheung and Kong represented Hong Kong at the 2016 Olympic Games and reached the second round in their respective disciplines. And with their fast improving form, both fencers look capable of improving their results in Tokyo.
Hong Kong fencer Vivian Kong can challenge for world number one spot after maiden World Cup success
Kong, who currently ranks second in the world, is only 13 points behind Mara Navarria of Italy and has a great chance of overtaking the Italian at the grand prix event in Budapest next month. She collected 32 points when she won in Barcelona over the weekend.
