Hong Kong's sailors added a silver and a bronze at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Thursday, finishing on the podium in the Women's Skiff (49erFX) and the Men's Skiff 49er events.
With four teams competing in the women's 49erFX, Hong Kong's pair of Asian Games debutants, Tiffany Mak Hiu-tung and Emily Grace Polson, delivered a steady performance across nine races.
The duo led after the first five races before closing with two second-place and two third-place finishes, taking silver behind Japan on 16 points. China claimed bronze on 23 net points, with India fourth on 26.
In the men's 49er, returning bronze medalists Russell Williams Aylsworth and Akira Luke Sakai charged to second overall after winning the seventh race.
However, a fifth-place finish in the decisive ninth left them on 24 points, one behind India, securing a second consecutive bronze. China's Wen Zaiding and Liu Tian took gold at the competition with 16 net points.
"We're quite happy and proud to come home with a medal," Sakai said. "At one point in the race, it was looking like we would be empty-handed."
Following the podium finishes, Hong Kong's women's skiff squad will receive a cash incentive of HK$1 million, while the men’s squad will receive HK$500,000 under the Jockey Club Athlete Incentive Awards Scheme.
The scheme awards HK$2 million, HK$1 million and HK$500,000 to the top three team finishes and HK$1 million, HK$500,000, and HK$250,000 to individual gold, silver and bronze medallists.
