Hong Kong’s abundance of young fencing talent gives coach Greg Koenig optimism for future
Coaching mastermind, who has recently become a permanent resident, says the promising future is part of the reason he has decided to stay
The mastermind behind two men’s foil individual Olympic gold medals and one world title said he was confident about the future of the sport in the city after their recent World Cup success in Paris.
Greg Koenig, Hong Kong’s foil team head coach, also said the abundant wealth of young fencers at his disposal was part of the reason for his wanting to stay at the helm for a longer time.
“We absolutely dominated every team; Ryan and Cheung Ka-long were fencing at their level,” he said. “What was amazing was junior Lam Ho-long also fenced perfectly.
“It was just like in the last World Championships when Leung Chin-yu was very strong in Milan; when we have a No 3 strong like this, we can reach the top of the podium.”
Koenig added that his fencers should keep in mind that “every team we fence is scared of us” despite their premature loss at the hands of Canada at the Fukuoka World Cup at the turn of the year.