Hong Kong’s Asian Games relay silver the big surprise on day when results went as expected

There was something almost inevitable about the way the first day of competition at the Asian Games in Japan unfolded on Sunday, and the only real surprise would have been finding someone surprised by it all. That is until Hong Kong’s women came second in the 4x100m freestyle relay in the final event at Tokyo Aquatics Centre. Just the second silver the team has ever managed in the discipline, it was as unexpected as the city-record time that accompanied it. Much earlier in the day’s proceedings, organisers got the quick start they needed to briefly silence the dissenting voices: China raced to the top of the medal table, and will no doubt stay there, and swimmer Yu Zidi was equally quick in dispelling any notion that she will not be a global star. The 13-year-old won the women’s 200m butterfly by a gap of more than three seconds, capping a golden debut for an athlete who surely has eyes on a greater prize, given she rated her performance as “so-so” and was already evaluating areas for improvement so she could “perform better next time”. Yu’s gold, which came in a Games-record time of two minutes, 5.08 seconds, was one of six China won in the pool, with others coming in modern pentathlon, shooting, triathlon and wushu, taking the total to 11 overall. At least the honour of securing the first of the week went to the host nation, with triathlete Takumi Hojo coming home ahead of the rest in the men’s race at the Gamagori City Triathlon Venue.. “As it’s our first gold medal, it’s given the Japanese team a real boost, and we’ve managed to pass the baton on to the women and our teammates for the relay,” Hojo said. While revelling in his achievement at finishing second, China’s Zhang Xiuri said he was “disappointed to be behind Japan”. It didn’t take long for roles to be reversed, with Lin Xinyu beating teammate Huang Anqi across the line in the women’s race and finishing almost a full second faster than Japan’s bronze medallist, Hayashi Manami, who came home in 58 minutes and 36 seconds. Hong Kong’s quartet will be hoping they can again prove to be greater than the sum of their parts in Monday’s team relay. Robin Elg and Oscar Coggins finished sixth and seventh respectively in the men’s outing, while Bailee Brown and Tallulah Wright were eighth and 20th in the women’s event. Not that the city’s delegation was limited to just one silver. After back-to-back bronzes in Jakarta in 2018 and Hangzhou three years ago, Grace Lau Mo-sheung finally upgraded her karate medal, although she was denied gold by a familiar foe, Japan’s Maho Ono. Not that Lau was entirely happy, saying this had been the year she was “really ready to get the gold medal”. “In 2018 and 2023, I was very close in the semi-finals, but I always missed it,” she added. Still, it was a costly day for the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s athlete incentive award scheme, which will pay out HK$500,000 to Lau for her result, while the swimmers will get to share HK$1 million. Siobhan Haughey, meanwhile, was delighted at a performance involving two debutants, Gilaine Ma and Li Sum-yiu, that “scored a medal on the first day”. Ma led out the city quartet, Haughey and Li did their jobs in the middle, and Natalie Kan Cheuk-tung held on to bring them home in 3:36.59, in a race China won in a Games record time of 3:33.10. Bronze went to Japan. “It shows that we actually have quite a lot of young swimmers who have great potential,” Haughey added. “I believe our swimmers will perform great in the following days.” The expectation will be that she is among them. Haughey opted out of the women’s 50m breaststroke on Sunday to focus on defending her women’s 200m freestyle title on Monday and her 100m freestyle 24 hours later. It was probably a sensible decision given China’s Tang Qianting won in a Games record 29.45 seconds. Other golds were won by Pan Zhanle in the men’s 100m freestyle, Li Bingjie in the women’s 1,500m freestyle, and Xu Jiayu in the men’s 100m backstroke. There will be more gold to be won in Tokyo tomorrow, and Haughey is aware of the pressure that rests on her shoulders. Not only as one of the most experienced swimmers in the squad, but as a double Asian Games gold medallist in Hangzhou and with four Olympic medals to her name. “I am one of the older swimmers here, but that comes with a lot of experience as well and I think that is a big advantage,” she said. “I’ve been to many big meets so I kind of know what to expect and how to deal with the nerves when it happens. “Pressure is a privilege, but I’m here to do my job and to swim well, and I can’t wait to see what I can do this week.”

Hong Kong’s Asian Games relay silver the big surprise on day when results went as expected

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Siobhan Haughey leads city to just second 4x100m freestyle silver as Grace Lau wins medal, China win six pool golds, hosts win opening gold

Siobhan Haughey leads city to just second 4x100m freestyle silver as Grace Lau wins medal, China win six pool golds, hosts win opening gold