Easy for Ryan Choi after injured rival pulls out of foil final
25-year-old takes local title without breaking a sweat and now looks forward to the World Cup
Ryan Choi Chun-yin won the men’s foil at the Hong Kong Open Fencing Championships yesterday without striking a blow, and hopes his luck carries over to the World Cup in Tokyo later this week.
The 25-year-old, who was seeded first in the knockout stage after winning all his pool matches, had expected to face Nicholas Choi in the final, but his opponent withdrew with knee problems.
Neither has faced the other in competition for a year, and Ryan Choi bemoaned the lack of a bout at the AsiaWorld-Expo.
“It’s a shame because I really wanted to compete in the final,” he said. “I actually wanted to test my anti-pressure ability in the final before the Tokyo World Cup next week.”
In the absence of defending champion Cheung Ka-long, who opted to miss the tournament to concentrate on preparing for the competition in Tokyo, the men’s foil was wide open, and it was Ryan Choi, the world No 9, who grabbed the initiative, breezing through the last-32.
A runner-up at the event on several occasions, including in 2019 and last year, Choi said his focus now was on finishing in the medal positions in Japan, bettering his previous performance in Germany last month.
Then, the Hongkonger lost 15-14 to Mohamed Hamza of Egypt in the last-16 of the World Cup leg.
“I know I have the ability to finish in the top four in world events,” he said. “I learned a lot at last month’s world cup in Bonn, I’m really looking forward to proving that I’m good enough to be on the podium in Tokyo.”
The men’s foil team will fly to Tokyo this morning, and Nicholas Choi, who beat Cheung Ngo-chun 15-9 in the semi-finals, is expected to travel with them, despite his knee injury. “I have some knee tendon problems, primarily due to my overloaded training these days,” Nicholas Choi said.
“I felt painful even before the match today, and the Tokyo World Cup is so close, so I have no choice but to withdraw, and I hope it will not affect my performance in the World Cup.”
Cheung Siu-lun, who had just returned from injury, had four wins and one loss in the group stage, before losing 15-10 to Wong Chun-chit in the last 32.
The 37-year-old, who ruptured his Achilles in May while competing
I … wanted to test my anti-pressure ability in the final before the Tokyo World Cup
RYAN CHOI
in the Incheon Grand Prix in South Korea, is also travelling to Tokyo. “I feel physically fine,” he said. “I found that I’m lacking confidence after months of rehab, and I’ve missed most of my shots when attacking my opponent.”
Defending champion Valerie Cheng Hiu-wai beat young Sophia Wu 15-12 in the women’s foil final, while Aaron Ho Sze-long and Au Sin-ying dominated the men’s and women’s sabre finals, respectively.