Qatar Grand Prix: Hong Kong fencer Kaylin Hsieh lives up to coach’s billing to strike gold
Win is ‘milestone’ for 28-year-old, who was tipped only last November to be successor to Olympic champions Cheung Ka-long and Vivian Kong
Hong Kong fencer Kaylin Hsieh Sin-yan lived up to the expectations of her head coach when she claimed gold at the Grand Prix in Doha on Sunday.
It was the first senior gold medal for epeeist Hsieh, who won bronze at the World Cup in Vancouver last November. The result also made the reigning 2021 World University Games champion only the third Hongkonger – after Cheung Ka-long and the now-retired Vivian Kong Man-wai – to win a gold at any FIE Grand Prix.
In November, Hong Kong’s head fencing coach Zheng Zhaokang tipped Hsieh to fill the shoes left by the departure of star fencer Kong, who announced her retirement just days after winning Olympic gold in Paris last summer.
The 60-year-old said Kong “wasn’t quite as good” as Hsieh at the same age and became who she was after “years of strenuous work”.
Interestingly, Kong was the last winner of the Doha event, in 2024.
Hsieh said: “Sometimes life throws challenges at you when you least expect it, and you just have to find a way to push through.”
The 23-year-old, who revealed on social media she had gone to Qatar with a cold and struggled to find her rhythm during the qualifying phases on Friday, added: “This gold medal is not just a milestone for me. It’s a reminder of the power of resilience and mindset.”
