Hong Kong's Cheung Ka-long gracefully embraces his defeated opponent, Japan’s Toshiya Saito.Hong Kong fencer Edgar Cheung Ka-long lifted the Junior and Cadet World Fencing Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria on Thursday after defeating Japan’s Toshiya Saito 15-11 in the individual junior men’s foil final.
Cheung was 1-4 behind Saito at the start, but the 19-year-old stepped up and proceeded to dominate the match. He finally defeated the Japanese fencer 15-11 and became the first Hong Kong male athlete to win the world title.
“I’m thrilled as winning the junior world championship has always been my dream,” Cheung said. “Although my dream came true, it’s only the beginning of a long road ahead. I’ll fight hard and hope everyone supports me.”
Cheung was the first male fencer from Hong Kong to reach the last 16 of the Rio Olympics last August. He will take part in the 2017 Asian (Seniors) Fencing Championships in June, hosted in Hong Kong.
Edited by Andrew McNicol