Hong Kong's reigning world junior men's foil champion Harris Ho, ranked 25th in the world by the FIE, beat Japan's Masashi Maeda 15-8 in the final of the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, Senegal, on Monday, winning Hong Kong's second gold of the Games and the city's first-ever individual fencing gold at the Youth Olympics.
Ho topped the 14-strong field by world ranking and went 5-1 in the group stage to enter the quarter-finals as second seed. He beat the Czech Republic's Krystof Novak 15-2 in the quarter-finals, then avenged his only group-stage defeat by beating Cyprus's Aris Kiayias 15-10 in the semi-finals.
Maeda, who had edged Britain's Mohammed Belbouab 15-13 in the other semi-final, faced Ho in the final. The two had met in the world junior semi-finals in April, when Ho won 15-8, and the Hong Kong fencer repeated the score, sealing the title before the end of the first period.
Hong Kong has previously reached the Youth Olympic podium through Ryan Choi, who won men's foil silver in 2014, and Vivian Kong, who won epee silver in 2018.
Hong Kong has sent 15 athletes to compete in 12 events in Dakar, and has so far won two golds, one silver and three bronzes. The gold medallists are wushu athlete Poon Ho-yin, in taijiquan and taijijian combined, and Ho.
