HPE students shine in different international sports competitions

Elite student-athletes from the Department of Health and Physical Education (HPE) continue to shine on the international stage, winning various awards in table tennis, lawn bowling, lifesaving, Wushu, judo and squash over the past few months. Their impressive performance was a result of strenuous training and strong coaching support from the Hong Kong Sports Institute and HPE. All of us at FLASS send them a big round of applause and wish them success in future competitions.

Two elite athlete-students of the Bachelor of Health Education (Honours) Programme, Chung Yat-long and Fung Ching-hei, together with their teammates, won a bronze medal under the Team Event category in the FISU World University Squash Championships 2022 held in Cairo, Egypt, from 10 to 13 November 2022. Chung Yat-long also finished the Men’s Individual Event in sixth place. They were selected as members of the University of Sports Federation of Hong Kong (USFHK) Squash Team to represent Hong Kong and EdUHK in the tournament.

Following a victory in the WTT Feeder Otocec 2022, table tennis player Doo Hoi-kem, an elite athlete student in the Bachelor of Health Education (Honours) programme, won the championship under the Women’s Doubles category with her partner Zhu Chengzhu in the WTT Contender Nova Gorica 2022 competition, organised in Slovenia on 6 November 2022. They overwhelmed their opponents, Swedish pair Linda Bergstrom and Christina Kallberg, by 11-7, 11-8 and 11-6 over the final three games.

The Third Asia Bowls Championship for the Disabled 2022 took place in Johor, Malaysia from 24 September to 2 October this year. All 12 members of the Hong Kong Squad Team won medals in the competition, bagging three gold, six silver and two bronze medals in total. Calvin Kwok Wing, a third-year student of Bachelor of Health Education (Honours) Programme, won a silver medal in Male Individual Class B4 category.

Li Yan-tung, a Bachelor of Science (Honours) first-year student in the Sports Science and Coaching programme, won a gold medal in the Line Throw (Female Youth) event at the 2022 Lifesaving World Championships in Riccione, Italy on 30 September. In the preliminary round of the competition, Yan-tung and her partner Ching Oi-ki set a new world record of 12.40s for Line Throw in the youth category. In the final game, the pair defeated opponents from Switzerland and Czechia and became world youth champions.

The International Life Saving Federation organises the Lifesaving World Championships every two years. This year’s championship competitions were held in Italy between 21 September and 2 October.

Debbie Yeung, a third-year student of the Bachelor of Health Education (Honours) Programme, was selected as a member of the University of Sports Federation of Hong Kong (USFHK) Wushu Team to represent Hong Kong, China and EdUHK in the 2022 FISU University World Cup Combat Sports. The tournament was held in Samsun, Turkey from 21 to 30 September, where the USFHK Wushu Team obtained seven gold and three silver medals in total.

Debbie performed outstandingly in the World Cup, winning the gold medal of Taijijan and the silver medal of Taijiquan. She said, “This is the first major international competition that I have participated in since the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2019. Although I was nervous before the competition as I have not competed in international tournaments for a long time, I feel I was able to meet my own standard at this event, and I am motivated to work hard in future events.”

Yeung Nok-lam, a third-year student of the Bachelor of Health Education (Honours) Programme, won a gold medal in the Women’s 57kg in the Thailand International Judo Championships 2022 held on 24 to 25 September at the Chiang Rai Municipality Convention Center in Chiang Rai Province.

The Eastside Open 2022 ended on 18 September 2022 in Hobart, Australia. After a tough battle against her teammate, Fung Ching-hei, a first-year squash elite athlete-student of the Bachelor of Health Education (Honours) Programme, claimed the championship with a game score of 3:2. This was her first PSA 3K title in the tournament.