Hong Kong’s athletes delivered a strong performance at the Asian Games in Japan on Thursday, securing multiple medals across rowing, swimming, wushu, and fencing competitions. The day was highlighted by lightweight sculler Chiu Hin-chun’s gold medal victory, completing his collection of Asian Games medals.

At the Nagaragawa International Regatta Course, Chiu claimed gold in the men’s lightweight single sculls with a time of 6 minutes, 50.32 seconds. Trailing Uzbekistan’s Firdays Akhunov by 0.63 seconds at the halfway mark, Chiu took the lead in the final 500 meters as Akhunov fell out of medal contention. Iran’s Amirhossein Mahmoodpoor Shahrestani and South Korea’s Park Hyun-su earned silver and bronze respectively. This triumph marked Chiu’s third Asian Games medal, following a silver in 2018 and bronze in 2023.

Chiu expressed gratitude for the support of his family amid challenging weather conditions caused by a typhoon. “I wanted this very badly because I had to collect all three colours of medals at the Asian Games. Now I have succeeded,” he said.

Hong Kong’s rowing squad secured three additional medals on the day. Winne Hung Wing-yan took silver in the women’s lightweight single sculls, finishing second behind Iran’s Fatemeh Mojallal. The women’s lightweight double sculls team of Cheung Yuen-shan and Leung Wing-wun earned bronze, narrowly trailing Iranian gold medalists Kimia Zarei and Zeinab Norouzi. In the men’s lightweight double sculls, Lam Sun-tung and Chan Tik-lun added a bronze medal, further extending Lam’s Asian Games medal count to three.

Swimmer Siobhan Haughey contributed to the medal haul with her fourth podium finish of the week, capturing silver in the women’s 50m freestyle in 24.32 seconds. China’s Wu Qingfeng won gold in a Games record time of 23.98 seconds. Haughey, a four-time Olympic medallist, also earned gold medals in the 100m and 200m freestyle events earlier in the competition, along with a silver in the 4x100m freestyle relay. She described the Games as “better than I expected,” despite battling an injury and illness during the event. Reflecting on her final Asian Games, Haughey said, “It wasn’t my 100 per cent at my peak, but I gave all I could.”

In wushu, Leung Yu-hong earned Hong Kong’s first-ever silver medal in the men’s sanda 60kg category, falling short to China’s Tang Sishui in the final. Leung acknowledged the hard work behind his achievement and emphasized his focus on future goals rather than external judgments.

Fencing also brought success as veteran athlete Fong Hoi-sun secured a bronze medal in the men’s individual épée. At 33 years old and competing in his fourth Asian Games, Fong reached the semi-finals before narrowly losing to Kazakhstan’s Kirill Prokhodov, ensuring his first podium finish at the Games.

Hong Kong’s overall medal count rose to 23, comprising four gold, 10 silver, and nine bronze medals, as the city’s athletes continue to make significant impacts across diverse sporting disciplines at the Asian Games.