The men’s 4x100m relay team followed up silver at the 21^st Asian Athletics Championships with medals in all three legs of the Asian Grand Prix Series to cap an impressive June.

Though the team missed out on qualification for August’s World Championships in Beijing, Hong Kong Sports Institute (HKSI) Head Athletics Coach Dr Anthony Giorgi is confident the results will stand them in good stead as they try to earn a place at the Rio Olympics next year.

The team of Ng Ka-fung, So Chun-hong, Tang Yik-chun and Tsui Chi-ho finished behind hosts China in 39.25 seconds at the Asian event to claim the silver at the Asian Championships in Wuhan.

Then, with Li Lut-yin replacing So for the Asian Grand Prix Series, they claimed gold (39.41), gold (39.44) and silver (39.53) in Bangkok, Pathum Thani and Chanthaburi respectively, the first time the team had medalled in every leg. One-hundredth of a second denied them gold in the third leg.

“The boys have done a solid job following up from last year’s Asian Games,” Coach Giorgi said (the team won bronze in Incheon, 38.98).

“The squad is undergoing a transition with new athletes joining the team and one of our most experienced athletes not running this year as he is returning from injury.

“So for the team to come out and win the silver medal at the Asian Championships and then go on and win medals in each of the three legs of the Asian Grand Prix Series, something they had never done before, creates a solid platform moving forwards.

“In addition to the medals it was exciting to try different combinations during the Grand Prix Series and this gives us some new options in 2016 as the boys chase an Olympic qualification.”

The team would probably have had to come close to or beat their Hong Kong record of 38.47 set in 2012 to make the 16-strong field for the Beijing World Championships.

“Realistically the opportunity to qualify this year has probably passed us by unless one of the higher ranked teams drops out and we are extended an invitation,” admitted Coach Giorgi.

“There is a new qualification system which started for this year’s World Championships and will continue on for the Olympic Games in 2016. Basically the top eight from the World Relays the year before become automatic qualifiers for the following year’s major championships and then positions nine to 16 are decided by ranking.

“In addition, the IAAF has decided to cut the number of teams that qualify for the World Championships from 24 down to 16 which further increases the challenge.

“This is the reality and we will just need to adapt and work towards our strengths to make sure we can position ourselves amongst the world’s elite.”

Despite missing out on Beijing, Coach Giorgi is confident the 4x100m team is looking good with the Rio Olympics just over a year away.

“The boys will have a short break before resuming individual preparations and embarking on a much-needed long, uninterrupted training block,” he said of the next stage in preparations.

“We now have a realistic pool of seven to eight athletes with an additional one to two junior athletes on the fringe of this group. This is great and it is something the squad needed. This should help push individuals to a higher level ensuring we have the best potential squad to chase a qualification spot for the Olympics next year.

“It will be challenging but, I am quite confident that we can put together a competitive team next year that will fight hard for an Olympic spot.”

Hong Kong’s fencers returned from Singapore with an impressive 5 bronzes from the Asian Fencing Championships held from 25 to 30 June.

Cheung Ka-long won the only individual medal in men’s foil at the Lion City’s impressive new Sports Hub, beaten by eventual winner and two-time Olympic medallist Yuki Ota of Japan. He then helped the team to the podium in the same discipline.

The women’s teams won the other three medals, one each from epee, foil and sabre.

The table tennis team were in the medals again as the ITTF World Tour went to Australia and Japan, winning a total of 1 gold, 2 silver, and 5 bronze during the month.

The highlight performance was that of Ho Kwan-kit and Lam Siu-hang, winning the men’s doubles on Australia’s Gold Coast, upsetting Indian third seeds Harmeet Desai and Soumyajit Ghosh in four games in the final.

Doo Hoi-kem and Zhu Chengzhu couldn’t make it double gold though, losing to a Korean pair after beating teammates Lee Ho-ching and Tie Yana in the semis of the women’s doubles.

Ho went on to reach the singles final, losing out to top seed and favourite Jung Youngsik of Korea in four games, and also reached the semis of the under-21 event, while Jiang Tianyi and Tie reached the semis of the men’s and women’s singles respectively.

Hong Kong’s tenpin bowlers made the short trip across the Pearl River Delta and returned with 2 gold, 1 silver and 2 bronze medals from two events in Macau. 

First up, Cheung Yuk-fung won the youth open title at the Macau China International Open Championships, while teammates Tse Chun-hin and Wong Kwan-yuen finished second and third respectively.

Mak Cheuk-yin, 21, then took the title a few days later on the ABF Tour, beating local favourite Zoe Dias Ma. Mak had seen off teammate Lau Kwun-ho in the semis.

The Hong Kong badminton team won a silver medal at YONEX Suffolk County Community College US Open - Grand Prix Gold Series held on 16 - 21 June in New York, USA.

The Hong Kong badminton team won 1 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze medal at the YONEX Canada Open Grand Prix held on 23 - 28 June in Calgary, Canada.

Squash athlete Choi Uen-shan won a silver medal in the Girls Under 19 event at the PBA 13^th Penang (Malaysian) Junior Open held on
1 - 6 June in Penang, Malaysia.

Squash athlete Chan Ho-ling won a gold medal in the Women’s Singles event at the Fitzherbert Rowe Manawatu Lawyers New Zealand International Classic held on 2 - 7 June in Palmerston North, New Zealand.

Triathlon athlete Kok Yu-hang won a gold medal in the Junior Men event at the New Taipei ASTC Triathlon Asian Championships held on 11 - 14 June in New Taipei, Taiwan.