Hong Kong marks 75 days until National Games with Cheung Ka-long fencing display

Two-time Olympic champion beats Enzo Lefort in exhibition at Palace Museum as countdown continues

Cheung Ka-long whetted the appetite for the National Games on Tuesday, taking on Enzo Lefort in a fencing exhibition at Hong Kong Palace Museum to mark 75 days to go until the multi-sport extravaganza.

Staged to step up anticipation for the city co-hosting November’s Games, the “Palace of Champions: Fencing for Spirit” event thrust Cheung into combat with a Frenchman he narrowly beat on his way to winning Olympic gold for a second time in Paris last year.

And just as he did in their Paris quarter-final, the Hongkonger came out on top, this time prevailing 15-12.

Before the bout at the museum, in the city’s West Kowloon Cultural District, Paul Chan Mo-po, the financial secretary, hailed a “truly historic occasion”.