World Rowing Championships: Hong Kong’s Chiu Hin-chun battles flu to make B final
Hongkonger finishes fifth in his men’s lightweight singles sculls semi-final in Shanghai
Chiu Hin-chun said he was disappointed to have only made the B final for the men’s lightweight single sculls at the World Rowing Championships, after finishing fifth in his semi-final on Thursday.
Advancing with the fourth fastest time in Tuesday’s heats, the Hongkonger crossed the finish line in seven minutes, 43.10 seconds, just ahead of Tunisia’s Ghaith Kadri in a pack of six rowers in Shanghai.
“I was carrying a flu the entire time here, so I find it acceptable to turn in such performance,” he said. “I also learned about tuning my condition if I am to compete when I am sick going forward.
“Rowing into the head wind, I basically exhausted all my energy in the final 500 meters.”
Austria’s Julian Schoeberl was again the first to finish in the first of two semi-finals, with a time of 7:22.09. Germany’s Fabio Kress and China’s Gu Jiantao were second and third, in 7:25.00 and 7:27.72, respectively.
In a head-to-head battle between the past and present under-23 world champions on Dianshan Lake, 2022 winner Felipe Kluver, who crossed the line first in 7:28.40, edged out reigning champion Halil Kaan Koroglu (7:31.12) by less than three seconds. Ireland’s Jacob McCarthy (7:33.01) snatched the remaining A final spot finishing third in the second semi-final.