Hong Kong missed out on men’s foil team gold at Kerry Fencing World Championships in agonising fashion on Tuesday, with a 45-44 defeat at the hands of Italy.While the city team’s run to the final at AsiaWorld-Expo represented their best World Championships performance, eclipsing the bronze they won in Milan three years ago, the silver was tinged with disappointment.Spearheaded by Cheung Ka-long, the two-time reigning Olympic champion, 2025 individual world gold medallist Ryan Choi Chun-yin and 17-year-old Harris Ho Shing-him, Hong Kong comfortably beat Macau and Belgium, before overcoming Hungary 45-37 in their quarter-final.Thumped in the last-eight by USA 12 months ago, they gained revenge for that defeat with a gripping 45-43 semi-final victory over the Americans, but could not stop the Italians from retaining the crown they won last year, throwing away a final in which they led by as many as eight points at one stage.Even so, the collective effort atoned for a series of individual disappointments on Saturday, when Cheung and Choi were both eliminated in the round of 16, and Ho fell at the first hurdle following a flawless pool stage performance to reach the main draw.More to follow ...