HK fencer Cheung tops world ranking

Hong Kong’s Olympic fencing hero Cheung Ka-long has taken top spot in the world foil rankings for the first time after the weekend’s World Cup event in Serbia.

Cheung went out in the quarter-finals in Belgrade, but still outperformed the previous top-ranked player, Alessio Foconi of Italy, to take top spot in the rankings ahead of Japan’s Takahiro Shikine.

Another Italian, Tommaso Marini, took the tournament gold medal.

Cheung became only Hong Kong’s second Olympic champion in Tokyo last year, taking gold in the foil. He also claimed his first World Cup title in Paris in January.