Grace Lau makes history with HK’s first gold at World Karate Championships

Hong Kong karate superstar Grace Lau Mo-sheung made history at the World Karate Championships in Cairo on Sunday, winning the city’s first-ever gold in the championship.

The world’s top-ranked kata athlete delivered a masterclass under immense pressure, earning higher scores from four of the seven international judges than Japan’s Maho Ono in the final to clinch the title on total points, beating Ono 46.1 to 43.3.

With this victory, Lau is now the world‘s champion as she had already swept the Asian Championships in May and the World Games in August, finishing the year ranked first in the world.

The win also marks her seventh triumph over her long-time Japanese rival Ono this season, as she has dominated their head-to-heads, winning six of their previous seven meetings and bringing her championship haul one gold and one silver and two bronze.