Hong Kong windsurfers celebrate long-awaited Asian Games golds
On.cc · 1 SOURCESabout 4 hours ago5 MIN
Summary
Hong Kong’s windsurfing squad held a celebration on Wednesday, October 21, after returning from the 20th Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games with two gold medals and one silver, ending a 12-year wait for Asian Games gold in the discipline . Head coach Chan King-yin (陳敬然), a former double Asian Games gold medallist who has led the team for 11 years, said the two titles felt “long-awaited” after more than a decade of coaching work . Veteran sailor Ma Kwan-ching won silver in the iQFoil event, while Wong Tsz-ho and Cheung Tsz-yuet captured the newly added men’s and women’s youth iQFoil titles respectively . Chan said the results vindicated a two-year plan that included arranging full-time training for selected teenagers after the youth category was added to the Nagoya programme .
Key Points
- The Hong Kong Windsurfing Association staged a celebration on Wednesday, October 21, after the team won two golds and one silver at the 20th Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games .
- Hong Kong had not won an Asian Games windsurfing gold since the 2014 Incheon Asian Games, making this the team’s first Asian Games titles in 12 years .
- Head coach Chan King-yin won Asian Games golds as an athlete in 2006 and 2010, then took over as Hong Kong head coach in 2015 .
- After learning two years ago that Nagoya would add youth events, Chan arranged special training for four boys and three girls who paused schooling .
- Gold medallist Wong Tsz-ho said he will focus on the Diploma of Secondary Education examination next year, while Cheung Tsz-yuet is targeting steady progress toward Olympic qualification .
Why It Matters
The result gives Hong Kong a fresh generation of windsurfing medal contenders and suggests the sport’s development pipeline is producing results again after a long gap at Asian Games level . It also underlines the trade-offs faced by young elite athletes in Hong Kong, where families, schools and coaches may need to coordinate closely when students step away from classes to train full-time .