Chiu Hin-chun, the 32-year-old rower from Hong Kong, did not need a medal in the lightweight 2000 metres to establish his credentials. But the gold he won at the 2026 Asian Games, being held in Aichi and Nagoya, Japan, means something more. It completes the set, following the silver he won in Jakarta in 2018, also in the lightweight event, and the bronze he claimed three years ago in Hangzhou in the men’s single sculls.
Chiu spent much of the race in second place, behind Uzbekistan’s Firdavs Akhunov, who led by 0.63 seconds at halfway. The decisive move came in the final 500 metres. Akhunov could no longer hold the pace, while Chiu gradually increased his speed, moving into the lead and crossing the line in 6:50.32. Iran’s Amirhossein Mahmoodpour Shahrestani took silver in 6:52.59, while South Korea’s Park Hyun-su took bronze in 6:53.35. Akhunov, after leading for much of the race, was left outside the medals. “I’ve competed at three Asian Games since 2018. I won silver the first time, then bronze in Hangzhou, and I really wanted this medal because I wanted to complete the set with all three colours. Now I’ve done it,” Chiu said after the race, clearly delighted. The Hong Kong rower also thanked his family, who had travelled to Japan to support him despite the difficult weather conditions. “I’m very emotional. I want to thank my family for coming all this way to support me. The weather wasn’t great and the typhoon made things difficult, but they came anyway. I really appreciate it.”
Another medal followed for Hong Kong soon afterwards, this time a bronze in the lightweight men’s double sculls. Lam San-tung and Chan Tik-lun finished in 6:24.84, behind Uzbekistan’s Shakhzod Nurmatov and Sobirjon Safaroliyev, who took gold in 6:19.94, and Indonesia’s Rafiq Wijdan Yasir and Ali Mardiansyah, who won silver in 6:23.41. “We gave everything and I think we did pretty well,” Lam said. “We prepared with the aim of winning gold, but that’s how it went. We won bronze and we’re still very happy.” The two medals take Hong Kong’s total to 23, leaving the city-state in eighth place in the medal table, with four golds, ten silvers and nine bronzes.