A year older but Hong Kong fencer Cheung Siu-lun is not going to miss the Tokyo Games for the world
- Veteran fencer is likely to be the oldest Hong Kong competitor at the Tokyo Olympics but will boost our medal hopes in the men’s team foil competition
- Cheung will compete in his first and last Olympics – that’s if the Tokyo Games go ahead
Veteran fencer Cheung Siu-lun has extended his career by another year because of the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics but he still believes he can still be a force despite his advancing age.
Cheung, who turned 34 last week, was meant to have competed in Tokyo next month and then say his goodbyes to the sport. But the coronavirus pandemic has changed his plans with his decision to postpone his retirement for another year something he thought was the proper thing to do to bring an end to his fascinating career.
These days Cheung can be seen working tirelessly at the Sports Institute’s fencing hall, practising with his men’s foil teammates as they prepare for Tokyo 2021. The delay in the Olympics meant he will need to wait a year longer before he quits the sport to run his own business. But the Olympics remain a dream for Cheung and he wasn’t going to miss it for the world.
“I have to delay my career plans for obvious reasons,” said the fencer of the pandemic that has thrown thousands of athletes around the world into disarray. “Even though I might be a bit too old at 35 at next summer’s Games, it’s still a dream of any athlete to compete at the Olympics. And this will be my first and last chance competing,” said the local fencer, who was unable to qualify for the London and Rio Games after a series of misfortunes.
“The team has gone through 12 months of tough qualifying before we punched our tickets to Tokyo. We will have to keep the momentum going with another year to go before the Olympics.”
Tokyo 2020 – a timeline of the ‘cursed’ Olympics
The men’s foil team punched their Olympic ticket in February when the qualification ended just before the pandemic hit the world on a global scale. They also became the first-ever fencing team from Hong Kong to have qualified after finishing fifth in the world standings, ahead of regional rivals South Korea, China and Japan. The astounding result meant Hong Kong were given three additional tickets in the individual foil.
Cheung almost qualified for the 2012 London Games when he was seemingly at his peak. So much was going for him in the lead up to London when he achieved some noteworthy results, including defeating China’s Lei Sheng, then world No 1, at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou to reach the men’s individual foil final.
Hong Kong fencers book historic appearance at Tokyo Olympics
Cheung came close to winning the first-ever fencing Asian Games gold medal for Hong Kong but narrowly lost 15-14 to South Korea’s Choi Byung-chul in heartbreaking fashion. To prove Cheung was right on top of his game at the time, Choi captured a bronze medal at the London Games two years later while mainlander Lei was crowned the Olympic champion.
Unfortunately, Cheung suffered a back injury in 2012, depriving him of a chance of competing for an Olympic ticket. Hong Kong was represented by an up-and-coming youngster, Nicholas Choi in London instead.
Four years later, another youngster Cheung Ka-long came through the ranks, outshining Cheung for the Olympic ticket.
“There was only one individual berth available as we could not make it through the team qualification,” he said. “And Ka-long was too good in 2016. He was crowned the Asian champion before the Rio Games and made no mistake securing the Olympic ticket for Hong Kong.”
Hong Kong narrowly miss out on fencing team gold at Asian Games
After missing out on two Olympics, Cheung thought his career was coming to an end and that his dreams of competing at the Games might never be realised. The veteran also missed out on the 2018 Asian Games, losing his place to another up-and-coming fencer, Ryan Choi Chun-yin, despite being crowned Asian champion the same year.
But through the help of the two youngsters – Ka-long and Ryan Choi – coupled by Cheung’s experience, Hong Kong made a historic breakthrough by qualifying in the team event for Tokyo.
“We might have done well at the Olympics had it been held this year. We would have capitalised on our good form going into Tokyo and even challenge for the medals,” said Cheung who will probably be the oldest member of the Hong Kong delegation to Tokyo next year.
“But the delay [of the Olympics] could be a blessing in disguise for us because we can take a break, heal any injuries and correct any mistakes we might have before picking up the pieces again for Tokyo. Do not rule us completely coming back for a medal. You never know what will happen in Tokyo as there are [only] eight teams competing for medals.”
