Asian Games, day 2: Hong Kong’s Sham wins Wushu gold; triathletes in must-win medal day

Hong Kong flag bearer Lydia Sham wins women’s Changquan, while later triathletes need to podium and Siobhan Haughey will defend title

Lydia Sham Hui-yu bagged Hong Kong’s first gold medal of the Asian Games on Monday, winning the women’s Changquan final in style at the Aichi Prefectural Martial Arts Hall.

The wushu athlete, who was one of the city’s two flag bearers at the opening ceremony in Nagoya, scored 9.713 points to see off the challenge of Macau’s Sou Cho-man, who took silver with 9.710, and Eugenia Diva Widodo of Indonesia, whose 9.706 was good enough for bronze.

Sham went into the event having previously won gold in the women’s Changquan-Jianshu-Qiangshu last summer at the World Games in Chengdu.

Hong Kong will hope the achievement, which has also earned Sham HK$1 million under the Jockey Club’s athlete award incentive scheme, will be the start of a successful day in Japan, where the likes of Siobhan Haughey, Ian Ho Yentou and the city’s triathletes are all in action.