In the early hours of last night, Hong Kong foil fencer Ryan Choi Chun-yin became the city’s first-ever world champion when he clinched the gold medal at the World Fencing Championships in Tbilisi, Georgia. The 27-year-old defeated his Russian opponent, Kirill Borodachev, in the men’s foil finals with a score of 15-9. Along with his sparkling new title as the world champion, Choi will also receive USD $40,000 as a prize.
Choi’s triumphant victory follows nabbing a gold medal at the Asian Fencing championships in June, as well as claiming the Asian fencing world championship title at the FIE (Fédération Internationale d'Escrime) Shanghai Foil Grand Prix earlier in May.
Familiar faces on Hong Kong’s fencing team, such as Edgar Cheung Ka-long and Vivian Kong Man-wai, have each won two bronze medals in previous editions of the World Fencing Championships.
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