FIE Foil World Cup Hong Kong: home favourite Cheung Ka-long suffers upset but still confident over Olympic seeding
- Olympic champion loses to world No 83 Davide Filippi of Italy but looks forward to two more competitions to improve Games seeding
- Guillaume Bianchi and Maia Weintraub win men’s and women’s titles at city’s AsiaWorld-Expo
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Hong Kong’s golden boy Cheung Ka-long suffered a premature exit on home soil at fencing’s FIE Foil World Cup as Guillaume Bianchi and Maia Weintraub took the men’s and women’s titles respectively.
The reigning Olympic champion lost 15-14 to Davide Filippi of Italy in the round of 16 on Friday to record his worst World Cup result this season ahead of the Paris Olympic Games this summer.
Receiving a bye to the main draw as one of the top seeds, the Hongkonger did show a glimpse of his early-season form by knocking out Choi Minseo of South Korea and Jaimie Cook of Great Britain to reach the last 16.
But the 26-year-old, ranked sixth, bowed out in a tight 15-14 bout against world No 83 Filippi.
“I need to tune my condition, for sure, because I had a short break after Washington [Grand Prix] in March,” Cheung said. “But this is the life of an athlete, there are always ups and downs.
“It’s rare to hear some Cantonese cheering. We enjoyed competing in front of our home fans, so I hope there will be more similar events in the future.”
Cheung led Filippi by two points on three occasions. Facing elimination at 14-12, he landed two straight points to draw level but the Italian went on to win.
“The result is not satisfactory, but luckily there are two more competitions for me to improve my seeding for the Games,” he said.
Greg Koenig, the city’s head coach, was not too concerned about the seeding.
“When he became Olympic champion [in Tokyo], his world ranking was not very good,” he said. “We don’t have to focus so much on the ranking, but more on the attitude and mindset.
“[We need] to be fully ready for the Olympics, this is the most important.”
Cheung will next compete at the Grand Prix in Shanghai in two weeks’ time before donning the city’s flag at the Asian Championships in Kuwait City next month.
He was not the only top-ranked casualty at the AsiaWorld-Expo. Women’s world No 1 Lee Kiefer of the United States was ousted in the round of 16, losing 15-14 to compatriot Weintraub, who went on to take the women’s title, overcoming Italian Elena Tangherlini 15-11 in the final.
The 29-year-old Kiefer remained visibly upset hours after her loss, declining to speak to the media.
Kiefer’s compatriot and fellow world No 1 Nick Itkin crashed out in the men’s round of 32. Itkin, who defeated Hong Kong’s Aaron Lee Yat-long 15-4 in the first round, lost 15-14 to Takahiro Shikine.
The Japanese would reach the men’s final but the 26-year-old lost to Bianchi 15-10.
In other results, home foilist Ryan Choi Chun-yin suffered a heartbreaking 15-14 loss at the hands of Alexander Massialas, also of the US, in the first knockout round.
In the women’s competition, Daphne Chan Nok-sze, who is heading to the Paris Games, lost 15-7 in the first round to world No 4 Martina Batini of Italy.
Janelle Leung Ya-lei stunned Polish Hanna Lyczbinska 15-10 in the first round before losing 15-6 to Jessica Guo Zi Jia of Austria, while Kuan Yu-ching lost 15-5 to Eva Lacheray of France in her opener.
