Ryan Choi claims first individual World Cup in Fukuoka, solidifies world No. 1 ranking

Hong Kong’s fencing world champion and world number 1 Ryan Choi Chun-yin continued his unstoppable run by winning the Fukuoka FIE Senior World Cup on Saturday, beating the same opponent he defeated in July’s world championship final to secure his fourth major international title in six months.

The 28-year-old top seed stormed through the individual men’s foil draw, overcoming four neutral-athlete fencers en route to the final.

In the semi-final, he crushed American Alexander Massialas 15-4, avenging a narrow loss to the same opponent in last year’s World Cup.

In the gold-medal match,h he again faced Russia’s Kirill Borodachev, whom he had beaten in the world championship final, and prevailed 15-9 to lift his maiden World Cup trophy.

The Fukuoka event marks the second World Cup of the new season and follows Ryan’s golden streak since May: Shanghai Grand Prix, Asian Championships, World Championships, and now Fukuoka.

Two-time Olympic champion Edgar Cheung Ka-long suffered an early exit in the round of 32, falling 12-15 to 19-year-old British fencer David Sosnov.

Hong Kong’s team, led by Ryan and Ka-long, will chase a podium finish in Sunday’s team event, fresh from their national games gold last month.