Hong Kong will send four windsurfers — two veterans and two first-timers — to compete in the forthcoming Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games, as the quartet hopes to bag medals at the iQFOiL-class event, the squad said on Monday.
The squad members told reporters that they have been actively adjusting their training plans to improve their performances.
The Asian Games will be Sept 19 through Oct 4, while the windsurfing event will be from Sept 23 through Oct 3.
Chau Ngai-man, president of the Windsurfing Association of Hong Kong, China, said the athletes have entered their final stages of preparation. Despite the many challenges ahead, Hong Kong athletes are demonstrating a resilient and unyielding fighting spirit, and he hopes they can win honors, he said.
All four athletes have the ability to compete for medals, said Chan King-yin, head windsurfing coach of the Hong Kong Sports Institute.
Windsurfer Cheng Ching-yin, who has participated in the Olympic Games, Asian Games and National Games, said that every venue has different wind and wave conditions. The light wind condition at the Nagoya venue requires more active sail pumping, a factor that has prompted him to adjust his physical conditioning.
At the 15th National Games last year — co-organized by the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and Guangdong province — Cheng finished the race in fourth place.
Cheng, who bagged a bronze medal at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou in 2023, said he hopes that he can grab a medal at this upcoming iQFOiL-class competition.
Windsurfer Ma Kwan-ching, who won two silver medals at the previous two editions of the Asian Games, said she hopes to bag a gold in the iQFOiL-class competition. She also expressed her confidence in her two junior teammates, and she hopes to deliver the sense of persistence to the younger generation.
The 20th Asian Games has for the first time set a U19 division at the windsurfing events. Young representatives Wong Tsz-ho and Cheung Tsz-yuet, who will make their debut at the games, took a year off from school to devote to a full-time training.
Cheung said she was conflicted about participating because of difficulties she might face when resuming her studies, but the support from both her school and family increased her determination.
In the iQFOiL U19 Women event at the 2026 iQFOiL Youth and Junior World Championships in Spain in July, Cheung finished in 11th place.
She said, the field in Spain is similar to the conditions in Nagoya, and believed that she can yield good results as she did when training at the event.
Wong, another emerging star, won a gold medal at the 2025 National Windsurfing Championships. Wong said the chance to take one-year full-time training is precious, and he is excited to compete at the upcoming event, hoping to bag a medal.
At the Hangzhou Asian Games, the Hong Kong SAR windsurfing team has bagged two silver and one bronze medals, marking its ninth consecutive Asian Games with a medal win.
Contact the writer at atlasshao@chinadailyhk.com
