Hong Kong windsurfers Wong Tsz-ho and Cheung Tsz-yuet both secured gold medals at the Asian Games on Wednesday, marking the city’s first time reaching double digits in its gold medal count since its athletes began competing in the event in 1954. The victories came despite challenging conditions at Kaiyoh Yacht Harbour in Gamagori, where a lack of wind restricted racing to a single contest on the final day.

With only one race completed, the overall standings were heavily influenced by the previous days’ performances. Wong, 18, claimed the boys’ title by capitalizing on a strong lead established over 10 races, in which he won six out of 11 races to finish with 13 points ahead of five other competitors. Japan’s Masato Kozono took silver, while Singapore’s John Wong Tze Xang earned bronze.

“I’m super, super happy. I can’t imagine it — when the race committee announced that we’ve done all the races, I was so relieved, immediately so happy,” Wong said. He credited his success to fewer mistakes compared to rivals and highlighted the payoff of years of dedicated training.

In the girls’ competition, 17-year-old Cheung dominated with nine race wins, securing gold over Japan’s Akari Oshima, who took silver, and Thailand’s Chanatkan Charoensuk, who earned bronze.

Chan King-yin, head coach and a former Asian Games medalist, attributed Wong and Cheung’s achievements to a focused two-year training initiative. He explained that four young windsurfers, including the gold medalists, suspended their studies in June last year to train full-time. Both athletes also competed at the iQFOiL Youth and Junior World Championships in Spain last July, where Cheung placed 11th overall.

“Wong might not be the strongest among us but he is clever, very smart on the racecourse, and is good all-round. Both of them are our future,” Chan said.

Wind conditions forced the cancellation of men’s and women’s windsurfing events scheduled for the day. Veteran Ma Kwan-ching secured silver in her category, trailing China’s Li Wenqi who took gold, while Japan’s Rina Nijima claimed bronze. Reflecting on her 22-year career, Ma said she was pleased to conclude her third Asian Games with a podium finish, despite not achieving gold after more than a decade of attempts.

In sailing, Huang Zixi and Tiago Cheng de Villemon Salgado contributed to Hong Kong’s medal tally by earning silver and bronze in the girls’ and boys’ dinghy events, respectively.