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Hong Kong karate queen Grace Lau Mo-sheung won silver in the women’s individual kata at the Nagoya Asian Games after losing the final 0–5 to her long-time Japanese rival Maho Ono, securing Hong Kong’s first medal of the Games.
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World No. 1 Lau marked her third Asian Games appearance and improved on her previous back-to-back bronze finishes. The 34-year-old overcame a tough schedule, with just five minutes of rest between her quarterfinal and semifinal bouts, before cruising to a 5–0 victory in the semifinal against her Chinese Taipei opponent to book her place in the final.
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In the final, Lau faced 27-year-old Ono, who fought on home soil. Coming off a narrow 2–5 defeat to Ono at the Asian Karate Championships in June, Lau performed the Chatanyara Kushanku routine. However, Ono’s Suparinpei routine earned a unanimous 5–0 decision, giving Ono the gold and Lau silver.
Lau said the performance could be her finest of the year after months of relentless training and competition since January.
On whether she will take part in the next Asian Games, Lau said the future is still too far away to determine now, and expressed heartfelt gratitude to her supporters in Hong Kong.
Lau will receive HK$500,000 under the Jockey Club Athlete Incentive Awards Scheme for her achievement.
The scheme awards HK$1 million, HK$500,000 and HK$250,000 to individual gold, silver and bronze medalists at the 20th Asian Games, along with HK$2 million, HK$1 million and HK$500,000 for the top three team finishes.
