Ryan Choi Chun-yin became Hong Kong’s first ever fencing world champion when he triumphed in the men’s individual foil final late on Wednesday.
Choi accomplished a feat that has proved beyond even the city’s Olympic champions Cheung Ka-long and Vivian Kong Man-wai by finishing atop the podium at the FIE Fencing World Championships in Tbilisi.
The world No 12, already the first Hongkonger to reach a world final, recovered from trailing early on against world No 24 Kirill Borodachev, the Russian who was participating as a neutral fencer. But he fought back to win 15-9.
Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Rosanna Law Shuk-pui congratulated Choi on his achievement.
“Ryan made impressive performance in the competition, demonstrating Hong Kong athletes’ charm and perseverance,” she said in a statement.
