SAR players continue winning streak, with long jump breaking city record
Bronze medalist China's Hong Kong's Yue Nga-yan celebrates on the podium during the victory ceremony for the women's long jump at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, Oct 2, 2023. (PHOTO / AP)
Hong Kong athletes continued their record-breaking streak at the ongoing 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou on Monday by winning three bronze medals, with the long jump being the day’s highlight.
Tiffany Yue Nga-yan bagged a bronze medal and surpassed her own city long-jump record of 6.49 meters, with a leap of 6.5 meters. This was also the first athletics medal won by the Hong Kong team at the current Asian Games.
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The Hong Kong team also nabbed two bronze medals in the triathlon and table tennis events on the same day.
As of Monday night, Hong Kong held fifth place in the Asiad’s overall medal standing with the city's medal tally to 44 — six golds, 15 silvers and 23 bronzes
Monday’s good news followed Sunday night’s bronze medal in xiangqi (Chinese chess), won by the mixed team of Chan Chun-kit, Tony Fung, Lam Ka-yan and Wong Hok-him. The team finished behind Vietnam, which won the silver, and the national team, which took the gold.
The string of successes brought Hong Kong’s medal tally to 44 — six golds, 15 silvers and 23 bronzes.
As of Monday night, the city held fifth place in the Asiad’s overall medal standing.
Yue, who had set Hong Kong’s long-jump record several times in the past, competed with 14 other athletes from Asian countries and regions in Monday night’s final.
The finalists were ranked by their best result from the six attempts they were given in the contest. Yue made her record leap on her second attempt.
Wednesday’s result will be inscribed on the wall of honor as a new city record after the follow-up confirmation from the Hong Kong, China Association of Athletics Affiliates.
Hong Kong players Wong Tsz-to, Bailee Brown, Jason Ng Tai-long and Charlotte Hall represented the city in the final of the mixed relay triathlon on Monday. Each of them was required to complete an 8.83-kilometer triathlon, which incorporated a 300-meter swimming, 6.67-kilometer biking, and 1.86-kilometer running races.
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The four triathletes finished the race in a total of 1 hour, 28 minutes, 22 seconds, and shared a bronze medal at the Chun’an Jieshou Sports Centre, where the event was held. The gold and silver medals were taken by the Japanese and the Chinese national teams respectively.
Table tennis player Wong Chun-ting was unable to advance in the men’s singles tournament after he lost to Wang Chuqin, a player from the Chinese national team, in a semifinal on Monday afternoon. The 32-year-old table tennis World Cup medalist still took home a bronze, with no match for that medal being held.
Hong Kong athletes competing in the equestrian, go and trampoline gymnastics missed out medals on Monday.
The city’s equestrian team, including Su Yuxuan, Daniella Lin Yin, Patrick Lam and Annie Ho Yuen-yan, finished the competition of the eventing team with a total penalty of 124, ranking fourth in the final.
Another close shot took place in the women’s trampoline gymnastics competition, in which Hong Kong athlete Jennifer Liu Kit-ying placed fourth.
The Hong Kong women’s go team fell short of nabbing a bronze medal, as it was stopped by the Japanese team in a semifinal.
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Also on Monday, Chan Tsz-ming and Chan Lam completed the final of women’s 1-meter springboard with the sixth and 11th places. Another diver, Yuen Pak-yin, ended the final of the men’s 1-meter springboard in ninth place.
In the men’s kayak single 1,000-meter event, Hong Kong athlete Cheung Tsz-chung completed the final race in 4 minutes, 16 seconds to finish in ninth place.
The Hong Kong men’s basketball team failed to secure a spot in the quarterfinals after being defeated by the Saudi Arabian team 95-72.
Contact the writer at williamxu@chinadailyhk.com
