More gold, glory as Cheung closes in on world No 1 rank

Olympic fencing champion Edgar Cheung Ka-long has made history yet again after becoming the first Hongkonger to snatch a gold medal at the FIE World Cup.

In his first international competition since the Tokyo Olympics last summer, the world No 4 Cheung topped the men's individual foil by beating Italy's Edoardo Luperi 15-12 in the finals in Paris.

Cheung's gold-winning performance put him a step closer to fulfilling his dream of becoming world No 1, especially after No 2 Gerek Meinhardt of the United States and No 3 Daniele Garozzo of Italy placed 33rd and fifth in Paris.

"I'm really happy," he said. "And the chance of becoming world No 1 is bigger now."

But Cheung has still one dream yet to fulfill - sharing the podium with teammates - after Hong Kong fell in the team men's foil event. It lost in the quarterfinals to world No 5 Italy, 45-24.

Ryan Choi Chun-yin, Shawn Cheung Siu-lun and Lawrence Ng Lok-wang also represented Hong Kong.

The 24-year-old Cheung edged out Alexandre Ediri of France 15-13 in the individual foil's round of 64.

He then knocked out former Asian Games and Asian Championships gold medalist Ha Taegyu of Korea 15-14 in a nail-biting round of 32 match and then beat another Korean, Kim Dongsu, 15-5 in the round of 16.

Cheung had a scare in the quarterfinals when facing 30-year-old world No 12 Enzo Lefort of France as the Hongkonger fell behind 6-8.

But he bounced back and took the lead by scoring eight straight points and won the match 15-9.

He then breezed through a 15-4 win over world No 1 Alessio Foconi from Italy in the semifinals.

Having only rested for about half an hour, Cheung faced off against No 58 Luperi in the finals. He jumped to a 6-1 lead, only to see the gap narrow to 10-8 as Luperi fought back.

But Cheung maintained his composure and sealed the deal, finishing the match 15-12.

Cheung said having won the Olympics did not add pressure to his campaign, although the cold weather bothered him a bit. His matches in the round of 64 and 32 were the hardest.

Cheung added he was still surprised that many people back home tuned in on the live broadcast of the finals that aired at 1am yesterday, Hong Kong time.

"They watched me compete even in the middle of the night and I really would like to thank them," he said.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and the Home Affairs Bureau posted congratulatory messages on Facebook.

"Based on news reports, he overcame all the obstacles and had a clean win, exuding complete confidence, Lam said. "I hereby send my heartfelt congratulations to Ka-long and his team."

The chairman of Hong Kong Sports Institute, Lam Tai-fai, said he was delighted that Cheung continued his good performance after the Olympics.

"Ka-long's form was really good and I believe that he can take it to the next level in the future. It is just a matter of time for him to become world No 1 [in men's foil fencing]," he said.

He said the growth of local athletes has brought a positive energy to the public amid the ongoing pandemic and believed the future of Hong Kong sports is full of hope.

carine.chow@singtaonewscorp.com