Hong Kong’s strongest karate squad in years can win 5 Asian Games medals, coach roars
- Head coach William Thomas says winning four or five medals in Hangzhou would be a ‘dream performance’ – but is not too far-fetched an idea
- Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Grace Lau Mo-sheung will lead city’s charge along with fellow Asian Championships gold medallist Tsang Yee-ting
Head coach William Thomas insisted the karate squad heading to the Asian Games will be the strongest since his arrival in Hong Kong in 2017 – and can win multiple medals, with kata specialist Grace Lau Mo-sheung a testament to that claim.
Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist Lau, who has been training in Florida since the build-up to the 2020 Olympics, won gold at July’s Asian Championships when she beat rival Kiyou Shimizu of Japan in the final in Malacca, Malaysia.
The 31-year-old Lau is likely to meet Shimizu again at the Asiad in Hangzhou, which gets under way next month, as Japan’s world No 1 Hikaru Ono has been dropped from the team.
“[Lau is] the first person to beat a Japanese competitor in the female category in maybe 10 years,” Thomas said.
“But she knows there will be another challenge in Hangzhou. She has the self-belief and has a really strong training attitude. We’re confident we can go out and compete and beat both Shimizu and Ono.
“If we come back with two medals from Hangzhou, I would say that would be expected. If we come back with three, I wouldn’t be surprised as this matches our level and our expectation. And if we come back with four or five, well, that’s a dream performance.”
