The city's top female karate fighter looks forward to ending her 17-year career with a gold medal at the latest edition of Asian Games, which opens in Guangzhou next week.

Chan Ka-man, who took to this particular form of sparring sport as a pastime after leaving school at 22, said this is going to be her last major competition.

That's all the more reason why she craves a gold medal that has eluded her in her long and checkered career.

Chan, who won a silver and bronze medal for the city at the 2002 and 2006 Asian Games respectively, said she wanted to add a gold medal to her collection before she takes a bow and turns to coaching.

"Our team may be considered an underdog but you only get better by facing off with top-notch opponents. The squad and sport have come a long way and it's our time," Chan said.

While Chan is set to compete in the 61kg class, her teammate Cheung Kwan-lok, 26, will lead Hong Kong's challenge in the men's 60kg class. Lee Ka-wai, 22, will take part in the men's 75kg class and Yuen Siu-lun, 30, for the men's 67kg class.

Head coach Kwong Kwan-ming said a slew of smaller competitions earlier in the year had helped sharpen his squad, adding that he expects at least three medals in the upcoming Games.

"We'll face some pretty tough competition from Japan, since they developed the sport, and also from the Iranian and Kazakhstani teams, which have earned quite a reputation worldwide. But our team is more than up to the task and we expect three medals conservatively, but of course, a lot depends on which countries we compete against," Kwong said.

With the city only taking home a bronze in karate at the last Games in Doha, thanks to Chan, Kwong said this time the team is well prepared to achieve higher rankings and clinch more medals thanks to growing support for the sport by the government.

"Over the last decade, the sport has really developed and increases in government funding have helped a lot in honing our athletes," Kwong said.

Looking forward to the completion of the Hong Kong Sports Institute's third phase development in Fo Tan, Kwong said the new facilities would go a long way in finetuning the city's athletic machines.

China Daily

(HK Edition 11/06/2010 page1)