Asia Triathlon Cup: last Olympic spot in Hong Kong’s sights but Kazakhstan hold trump card
- Jason Ng of Hong Kong still ahead in showdown with Ayan Beisenbayev for remaining Olympic place
- Kazakhs may boast the personnel to help their star man overtake in last two races, Hong Kong coach Andrew Wright says
Results at the Asia Triathlon Cup “went Hong Kong’s way” despite the city’s Olympic hopeful Jason Ng Tai-long finishing in the bottom half of the field, according to head coach Andrew Wright.
Ng finished 29th in one hour, 51 minutes and 22 seconds in Taizhou on the mainland Chinese coast on Saturday, while his only rival for the Olympic berth he is chasing, Ayan Beisenbayev, was two minutes and eight seconds ahead in 20th.
The Hongkonger still leads the Kazakh for the Paris Games’ only “new flag” berth, reserved for the top-ranked Asian triathlete whose country or region has not yet qualified, and Wright said there was “no change” in Ng’s situation.
“You could say [the race] went well for us,” Wright said. “Robin Elg raced well and came fifth. Jason and Mark [Yu Shing-him] were in the third pack with the Kazakh athletes, so there was no point in chasing the leaders down and helping Beisenbayev potentially get a top-six place.”
Having ended the 1,500-metre swim in 39th, Ng moved up a couple of places on the 40km bike leg then some more during the run to finish six minutes and 29 seconds behind winner Luke Schofield of Australia.
Elg recorded Hong Kong’s best placing, remaining in the leaders’ group of 10 throughout and clocking 1:46:26, a mere 30 seconds off a podium completed by Irish duo James Edgar and Jonathan Oakey.
