Hong Kong’s karate athlete Grace Lau Mo-sheung is still in medal contention after falling into the bronze medal match in the women's solo "kata" competition in Tokyo.
The women's solo "kata" competition kicked off karate's first foray into the Olympics on Thursday with the 10 karateka performing routines in a hushed, spectator-less Nippon Budokan arena, the spiritual home of Japanese martial arts in Tokyo.
At the conclusion of the elimination rounds, Lau advanced to the ranking rounds with an average point of 26.15, ranking second behind world number one Sandra Sanchez from Spain.
The top three athletes from each of the two elimination groups will advance to the ranking rounds. Where they will perform another routine, with the first place of two groups advanced to the gold medal match, and the remaining four falling into the bronze medal match.
Lau, after finishing the ranking round, ranked second with 26.40 points, missed out on the chance of snatching gold, but is still in contention for bronze.
Hong Kong's “karate diva” will return to the arena at 6.30pm for her bronze medal bout.
The gold medal bout will feature Japan's Kiyou Shimizu and Spain's Sandra Sanchez at 6.50pm.
