Hong Kong’s Ryan Choi wows Lewis Hamilton on Los Angeles World Fencing League debut
World champion hails ‘breakthrough’ for his sport after overcoming Miles Chamley-Watson, the man responsible for innovative new venture
Ryan Choi Chun-yin hailed a “breakthrough for fencing” after his fabulous comeback victory over Miles Chamley-Watson crowned the inaugural World Fencing League (WFL) in front of a sold-out Los Angeles crowd on Sunday.
The brainchild of American 2016 Olympic foil team bronze medallist Chamley-Watson, the WFL was designed to propel fencing “onto the global stage all year round”, while swelling competitors’ earnings and drawing audiences closer to the sport.
Reigning foil world champion Choi’s reward for overcoming Chamley-Watson 16-13 was a cheque for US$10,000. The captain of Team Shield, whose athletes won five out of the six contests against their Team Blade rivals, Choi also shared in the leftover cash from a US$100,000 prize pot after the individual winners were paid out.
The seven-times F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton was among around 6,000 people watching inside Shrine Auditorium and Exhibition Hall.
“This has been a dream come true, we normally do not compete in front of so many people,” Choi said.
“Today has been a breakthrough for fencing. We all came to win and for the money, but most importantly [we came for] a revolution.”