Hong Kong athletes once again delivered, as cyclist Ceci Lee Sze-wing clinched a gold medal and swimmer Siobhan Haughey added two bronzes at the 15th National Games on Monday.
Their victories extended the Hong Kong team’s medal run at the multisport event, closing out the day with a total of eight golds, two silvers, and seven bronzes.
In the women’s omnium, 24-year-old Lee stayed near the front of the pack throughout, and ultimately took first with 124 points, edging out Henan province’s Zhou Menghan by a single point, with Sichuan province’s Liu Jiali finishing third.
The gold medal marked Lee’s third at this year’s games and her fourth across two editions, overtaking veteran cyclist Wong Kam-po to become the athlete with the most National Games gold medals from Hong Kong.
Meanwhile, swimming sensation Haughey, who had already claimed two gold medals in her debut at this year’s National Games, made history by competing in two events within minutes.
The 28-year-old claimed bronze in the women’s 50-meter breaststroke with a time of 30.71 seconds, finishing behind Tang Qianting of Shanghai and Yang Chang of Shanxi province.
Barely five minutes later, she returned to the pool and added another bronze with a 24.84-second swim in the 50m freestyle. Zhejiang province’s Lyu Yue touched the wall at the same time, sharing the bronze in a dramatic finish. Wu Qingfeng of Zhejiang took gold, and Cheng Yujie from Jiangxi secured silver.
In a post-match interview, Haughey, the Asian 200m freestyle record-holder, said, “I didn’t expect to win any medals — after all, these two events aren’t my main specialty, and the time in-between was quite short.
“But I wanted to challenge myself ... to see if I could stay mentally prepared and calm to finish each race one by one,” she said. “I think I did a pretty good job.”
The Hong Kong ace added that she will now set her sights on next year’s Asian Games in Aichi Prefecture and Nagoya, Japan.
Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Rosanna Law Shuk-pui congratulated Lee and Haughey on their outstanding performances. She also expressed hope that the public will continue to support and cheer on Hong Kong athletes in the remaining events.
Monday also featured intense fencing duels, with Hong Kong athletes delivering spirited performances in the men’s epee and women’s foil individual events.
In the women’s foil event, Kuan Yu-ching made a remarkable run to the quarterfinals before losing to top-seeded Huang Qianqian from Fujian province, a double gold medalist at the Hangzhou Asian Games. Teammate Valerie Cheng Hiu-wai ended her run in the round of 16.
The men’s epee competition proved equally challenging. Cedric Ho Wai-hang advanced to the round of 16 after defeating teammate Ng Ho-tin, but narrowly lost to Xiu Yuhan from Shandong province.
Fong Hoi-sun, the 13th National Games bronze medalist, suffered heartbreak in the round of 32, narrowly losing to Shandong’s Ma Xiao.
While the Hong Kong fencing team collected one silver for Aaron Ho Sze-long and two bronzes for Edgar Cheung Ka-long and Kaylin Hsieh Sin-yan in their respective individual events, their focus now shifts to the team competitions that begin today.
Contact the writers at gabylin@chinadailyhk.com
