Track cyclist Lee Wai-sze was one of the stars of a successful Asian Games for Hong Kong athletes,winning 2 gold medals, in the women’s keirin and sprint.

Lee took her first gold in the keirin, the event in which she won Olympics bronze in London in 2012, and topped the podium again four days later. She now has three Asian Games golds, having won the 500m in Guangzhou four years ago.

The velodrome in Korea was unconventional – 333-metres long, cement and outdoor as opposed to the usual 250-metre wooden indoor tracks – but a two-month period of intense specialist training on an identical track in northeast Korea paid off handsomely for Lee.

Lee beat Fatehah Binti Mustapa of Malaysia and Zhong Tianshi of China into second and third place (0.070 and 0.181 seconds behind respectively) in the keirin, then immediately turned her sights to the sprint.

“This is my second Asian Games and I know the importance of early preparation. But this cannot happen without a strong support team, who also played a great part in today’s success,” she said after her first gold.

“There were initially some worries after we found out about the 333-metre track, but those worries quickly vanished after we had such great preparation.”

Lee quickly switched focus to the sprint and beat the mainland’s Lin Junhong in the semi-final before a daunting challenge in the final against Zhong, who had set a new Games record in the earlier rounds.

Zhong seemed to have seen off Lee for the gold after winning the first two races in the best-of-three final, but she was disqualified for entering Lee’s lane in the second, meaning whoever won the third race would take gold. Lee held her nerve to win in 11.121 seconds.

“I really wanted to win this medal because I spent a lot of hard work and effort on it,” said Lee. “I must thank a lot of people for helping me to achieve the target. My coach, support staff, my family, my friends and my male teammates who have been training with me in Korea.

“Sprint is very much a mental game and I am happy to see my tactics have been maturing over the last couple of months.

“I hope to be able to challenge in this event again in the next Olympic Games, although there are still many top sprinters from Europe and other parts of the world.”

Shen Jinkang, Head Cycling Coach of the Hong Kong Sports Institute (HKSI), said after the keirin: “Her form is good and the preparation was done well. We had great confidence in her even before the race. She showed great self-control after winning the race, knowing she still had to race in the sprint.”

The cycling team won four other medals: in men’s cross-country (Chan Chun-hing, silver); men’s omnium (Cheung King-lok, bronze); men’s road race (Leung Chun-wing, bronze); and women’s individual time trial (Wong Wan-yiu, bronze).

Leung’s win ensured a fifth consecutive Asian Games road race medal for Hong Kong, since Wong Kam-po won gold in Bangkok 1998.

Coach Shen said the 20-year-old Leung, a former world junior points race champion, had a bright future ahead of him if he continued to work hard.

“Wong is irreplaceable in Hong Kong cycling and I just want to be myself,” said Leung, who has been compared by some to the all-time great. “Hopefully I can be as successful as him in future.” For mountain biker Chan, at the other end of the age scale, another medal was the perfect way to end a successful Games career.

“This is for sure my last Asiad and I am very happy I can still win a medal here despite my age,” said the 33-year-old, who took gold in Guangzhou four years ago. “The build-up leading to Incheon has been very tough and now all the hard work and effort has paid off.”

(Photos provided by Sportsroad)

Gymnast ShekWai-hung considered quitting the sport after a nightmare at the London Olympics, but he was in dreamland after shocking home favourite Yang Hak-seon, the reigning Olympic and world champion, to win gold in the men’s vault in Incheon.

Shek edged out overwhelming favourite Yang (15.216 to 15.200) to win Hong Kong’s first ever Asian Games gymnastic medal.

As well as personal redemption for Shek, who had suffered an embarrassing fall at the Olympics in 2012, the medal was a huge boost for his sport.

“All my hard work and effort over so many years were in vain in a flash,” recalled Shek of that day in London.

“I have been haunted by that terrible moment for a long time. At one time, I even wanted to quit the sport. Hopefully, this success can help me forget about that.

“In fact, I thought I was still dreaming when I woke up [the morning after], wondering if I had really won the gold medal.

“We have improved a lot since returning to the HKSI three years ago,” added Shek. “This proves the importance of resources for our training, competition and other support services.”

The Hong Kong boccia team won 2 gold medals at the BISFed Boccia World Championships held on 19 - 28 September in Beijing, China.

The Hong Kong karatedo team won 2 bronze medals at the Karate1 Premier League - Istanbul held on 6 - 7 September in Istanbul, Turkey.

The Hong Kong rowing team won 1 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze
medal at the 20^th Asian Rowing Junior Championships held on 4 - 7 September in Yilan, Taiwan.

The Hong Kong rugby sevens team won a gold medal at the ARFU Asian Rugby Sevens Series, 2^nd leg held on 6 - 7 September in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Squash athlete Chu Man-yee won a bronze medal in the Women’s Singles event at the North Coast Open held on 4 - 7 September in Coffs Harbour, Australia.

The Hong Kong table tennis team won 1 silver and 5 bronze medals at the Reliance 20^th Asian Junior & Cadet Championships held on 12 - 16 September in Mumbai, India.

The Hong Kong table tennis team won 1 gold and 2 bronze medals at the Chinese Taipei Junior & Cadet Open - ITTF Premium Junior Circuit held on 24 - 28 September in Taipei, Taiwan.

The Hong Kong wheelchair fencing team won 2 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze medal at the IWAS Wheelchair Fencing Grand Prix - Poland held on 25 - 28 September in Warsaw, Poland.