Hong Kong's men's foil team came agonizingly close to gold at the Cairo Foil World Cup on Monday, losing 45-43 to world No 1 Italy in the final.
The team, led by world No 1 Ryan Choi Chun-yin and Olympic champion Edgar Cheung Ka-long, along with newly crowned world champion Mike Lam Ho-long and teammate Leung Chin-yu, fell just two points short of repeating their January victory in Paris.
Hong Kong advanced through the rounds with convincing wins: 45-33 over Germany in the round of 16, 45-34 over a neutral nation in the quarter-finals, and a tight 45-43 victory over world No 2 United States – a rematch of the January final which Hong Kong also won – in the semi-finals.
In the final, Hong Kong trailed by up to six points early on but gradually closed the gap to one or two points. However, they ultimately fell short against the Italian team, which included two top-eight ranked fencers and was the Olympic silver medalist in Paris.
The result marked the first time the Hong Kong men's foil team has won two medals in a single season, following their gold at the Paris World Cup in January. Earlier in the Cairo individual event, Cheung was the best performer among the Hong Kong fencers, reaching the round of 32 before being eliminated.
