Fencer Kaylin Hsieh Sin-yan looks to become first Hongkonger to win back-to-back NCAA titles
- The 21-year-old Notre Dame student began her road to defending title on Saturday in Durham, North Carolina
- World No 2 Vivian Kong was eliminated early in China after falling short to world No 110 French fencer
Defending champion Kaylin Hsieh Sin-yan hopes to become the first Hongkonger to win back-to-back NCAA titles on Sunday, while World No 2 Vivian Kong Man-wai was eliminated early from the Nanjing World Cup.
The 21-year-old Notre Dame student began her road to defending her National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Fencing Championships title on Saturday in Durham, North Carolina, with three matches of round-robin competition, followed by another two rounds on Sunday, with the top four finishers advancing to the final on the same day.
Hsieh qualified for the main draw by finishing second in the NCAA Midwest Regional two weeks ago, losing only once in round-robin pool play to her teammate Eszter Muhari, who is ranked 17th in the world.
“I think the best way to deal with the pressure [of defending the title] is to make sure I get enough rest and sleep and eat well, and take it step by step,” said Hsieh, who beat Muhari, the third-placed finisher in the 2023 Doha Grand Prix, in the final of the Atlantic Coast Colleges (ACC) competition in the United States last month.
There are 24 female epeeists from 17 different colleges fencing for the individual title, and Notre Dame leads the team event with 94 points, followed by Columbia on 79 and Princeton in 77. One point is awarded for each victory per student-athlete in the round-robin competition.
Hsieh had to forego a ranking tournament in China – the Nanjing World Cup, which is the final tournament before the Olympic qualification cycle begins in April – to compete in the NCAA event.
Hong Kong No 1 Kong, who was the first fencer from the city to win the NCAA title while competing for Stanford in 2014, was unexpectedly knocked out of the World Cup in China in the last-16 by a player ranked more than 100 places lower.
The 29-year-old had a smooth start, defeating Chinese teenager Zhao Yan 15-5 in the first round, before beating American Isis Washington, ranked 72nd, in the second round.
Kong was then eliminated in the last-16 by world No 110 Camille Nabeth of France, who upset China’s Sun Yiwen, the Tokyo Olympic gold medallist, in the quarterfinals.
With six tournaments to compete in during the first half of the season, Kong earned one silver medal, one bronze, and three quarter-final finishes. The result put moved her into the world No 2 position as the one-year Olympic qualification cycle begins in April.
