HK team foils French to snatch gold in uni games

Hong Kong men's foil team yesterday overcame the French in the final with absolute dominance to snatch gold in the World University Games in Chengdu, China.

Made up of Olympic gold medalist Edgar Cheung Ka-long, Ryan Choi Chun-yin, Aaron Lee Yat-long and Lawrence Ng Lok-wang, the Hong Kong team never conceded the lead and beat France 45-33.

The first-seeded Hong Kong started the match against second-seeded France with a promising opening, after Cheung, who just won gold in an earlier individual foil event, scored three straight touches against Alexandre Sido, currently ranked 79 in the world. Cheung ended his round with a tight margin at 5-4, before Lee showed off his top form to beat Pierre Loisel, silver medalist in the individual event, 5-1, extending the team's lead to 10-5.

Tsoi continued the momentum and further opened up Hong Kong's lead to 15-8 against Maximilien Chastane.

Although the French team closed down the lead by one point in the fourth round, the 26-year-old Cheung and 25-year-old Tsoi were relentless in the fifth and sixth round and established a healthy lead at 30-21 with three rounds left.

The Hong Kong team then made no mistake. After Cheung landed a clean, quick stab at his opponent's torso, they landed themselves on the top of the podium after beating France 45-33.

This also marks the fourth gold medal of the Hong Kong team in this year's Games, while Cheung is the second Hong Kong athlete to be a double gold medalist in the World University Games after swimmer Siobhan Haughey in 2017.

The Hong Kong delegation sent out its best foil team in history and defeated rivals as the first seed of the team foil event. They eliminated Macau with ease in the first round 45-3, and narrowly beat Poland 45-42 in the quarterfinals.

The team later crushed team China in the semifinals 45-35 to reach the final against France.

Speaking in a post match interview, Choi said the team controlled the tempo very well: "The tempo of the match was controlled very well. [Edgar Cheung] Ka-long and I did our job, and Lee put out an exceptional performance."

"Ng was actually injured with a swollen handbut he still supported us. This match gave us a lot of pressure, but we eventually won. We are so relieved now," he added. Speaking after his spectacular performance, Lee said he did not think much and gave it his all in the match. "I am very happy to win Hong Kong a gold medal," Lee added.

The Hong Kong Baptist University issued a statement to express its "heartiest" congratulations to its student Cheung for winning a gold with the fencing team.

Alexander Wai Ping-kong, president of the university, said: "His exceptional performance has solidified his position as one of the world's top fencers, and we are expecting him to reach new heights in the field of fencing."

The University of Hong Kong also extended congratulations to the team and its students Choi and Ng for their "exceptional" achievement.

"Their victory stands as a beacon of inspiration for the entire HKU community," HKU said.