Asian Games 2023: Salom Yiu and Juanita Mok to carry Hong Kong flag at opening ceremony
- Yiu and Mok both ‘honoured and proud’ to be chosen to lead city’s delegation into Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Stadium
- Athletes from the swimming, boxing, fencing, handball, skateboarding, rugby, taekwondo and wushu teams head to Hangzhou on Thursday morning
Rugby sevens star Salom Yiu Kam-shing and wushu’s Juanita Mok Uen-ying will carry Hong Kong’s flag at the Asian Games opening ceremony, officials said on Thursday.
The pair will lead the largest delegation the city has ever sent to the multi-sport event into the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Stadium on Saturday evening.
Some 680 Hong Kong athletes and 280 officials will be in mainland China over the next two weeks competing in 40 sports.
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Asian Games 2023: Hong Kong squad flagbearers and fencing gold hopeful head to Hangzhou
Speaking at Hong Kong International Airport before a large contingent of athletes travelled to Hangzhou, the delegation’s chef de mission Kenneth Fok Kai-kong said the decision to choose the pair was based on more than just results.
“It is also about giving an opportunity to different sports and exposure to different athletes,” he said, adding that selecting one from a team sport and one individual competitor had been part of the process.
Rugby’s excellent results over the past three Games and their status as defending champions, the work they did in the local community and team spirit, represented “everything Hong Kong embodies”.
Fok hailed Mok as “a famous and skilled wushu athlete that won silver at the last Asian Games”, and added that her discipline held a cultural significance in Hangzhou.