National Games, day 6: Ho wins sabre silver, Hsieh épée bronze, history for Hong Kong
Aaron Ho equals the best finish of any Hong Kong fencer at a National Games and is the city’s first sabreist to win a medal
Hong Kong fencer Aaron Ho Sze-long had to settle for a silver medal at the National Games on Saturday after suffering defeat by Shandong’s Wei Zhenhao in the men’s sabre final.
But Ho, 30, still earned the distinction of making history, becoming the first Hong Kong sabreist to win a medal at the Games, and the achieving the joint-highest Games finish of any Hong Kong fencer, matching the 2017 foil silver of Nicholas Edward Choi.
It came on a day when Hong Kong’s Kaylin Hsieh Sin-yan won bronze in the women’s épée.
Wei, ranked No 271 in the world, was too good for Ho on the night at Kai Tak Arena. World No 79 Ho got off to a dismal start, conceding six straight points before scoring his first, and then slipping 8-1 behind. Ho managed a 3-1 mini run to start the second round but it was too little, too late, as the 24-year-old Wei prevailed 15-7.
Ho had stormed through his semi-final bout against Xu Yingming with a 15-12 win, shaking off an early wobble.