Hong Kong Aims to Secure Long-Term Fencing Grand Prix Host Status

Hong Kong could cement its place as a host on fencing’s elite Grand Prix circuit for years to come if everything goes well at an inaugural event next May.

With officials and athletes praising the way the Kerry Fencing World Championships have been staged over the past 10 days at AsiaWorld-Expo, the decision to have the city replace Shanghai on the three-stop circuit alongside Turin and Lima has been welcomed across the sport.

While sources told the South China Morning Post that Shanghai, which has been a long-standing, 10-time host of the Grand Prix since 2011, had “lost the event” because of gradually declining standards, a senior official at the International Fencing Federation (FIE) said the mainland city had decided it would prefer to host a leg on the second-tier World Cup circuit.

“We like to keep this Grand Prix in this zone [Asia], and Hong Kong was a very logical option,” Donald Anthony, vice-president of the FIE, said. “The local federation stepped up, made a bid and, based upon what you guys can offer, we think that it’s going to be good for the sport.

“And then having the confidence that Hong Kong has really developed into a strong fencing community. You look at the stands and the spectators. We want to go places where we can have that kind of crowd, media attention and support for our sport.”

Anthony, who first came to the city for a fencing event in 2017, said the way Hong Kong had staged the World Championships “could be the benchmark” for other host cities in the future.