JK 2023

The pandemic restrictions were finally lifted mostly in December 2022, enabling Hongkongers to travel again. JK 2023 was the first overseas orienteering event, apart from the IOF major events which are entered by delegations, with significant Hongkongers’ participation.

JK, which stands for Jan Kjellström, was the Swedish man who brought orienteering into the UK, and now the event is held every year on the Easter weekend which consists of 4 days of FootO (sprint, middle, long and relay, with all individual races having WRE status), and in recent years TrailO has been added to the programme as well. The event this year was held in Lancaster and South Lakes, with 3 TrailO races on the first 3 days of the event, in the order of one-man relay, PreO and PreO sprint, however they are not WRE races unlike the FootO counterpart.

There were 29 Hongkongers participating in the FootO races and 7 Hongkongers participating in the TrailO races.

All results, maps and solutions can be viewed on the British Orienteering website.

Day 1

The one-man relay (combined PreO + TempO scored using the relay rule) was held in University of Cumbria in Lancaster.

4 Hongkongers participate in the TrailO elite class out of 46 in total, with Wang Ki Yuen the best Hongkonger, achieving a strong 6th in race (165 seconds for 15 PreO controls + 10 TempO controls), beating GB team members such as Charles Bromley Gardner. Other Hongkongers results include Ting Ho Gilbert Lee the 22nd (356 seconds), Chi Kin Chau the 23rd (357 seconds) and Michael Tsang the 26th (405 seconds).

Io Pan Wong, Yin Wan Chan and Cheung Hi Chau participated in the standard class.

Day 2

The PreO race was held in Rydal Park, Ambleside. A short timed section was used in lieu of time controls as the tie breaker, with the ranking determined by the points on the main course, then the points on the timed section, and finally the time used in the timed section.

In the elite class, Michael Tsang performed the best among all Hongkongers, achieving the 12th with 24 points out of 28 controls, and 4 out of 4 and 1 minute 56 seconds out of 2 minutes 20 seconds in the timed section. The other Hongkongers’ results were Wang Ki Yuen the 20th (22 points), Chi Kin Chau the 22nd (21 points) and Ting Ho Gilbert Lee the 28th (20 points).

Cheung Hi Chau and Yin Wan Chan participated in the standard class.

Day 3

The PreO sprint was held in Great Tower Scout Camp.

PreO sprint is a non-IOF format which is similar to traditional PreO, however with the course length much shorter, the density of control much higher, and with only A or Z (i.e. if there is a flag placed in the location described by the map) the possible answers. The time used on the course is the tie breaker.

In the elite class, Ting Ho Gilbert Lee performed the best among all Hongkongers, getting the 7th place out of 40 participants with 18 points in 20 controls. The remaining Hongkongers’ results were Michael Tsang the 14th (17 points), Chi Kin Chau the 20th (16 points) and Wang Ki Yuen the 24th (15 points)

Cheung Hi Chau and Yin Wan Chan participated in the standard class.

After the race was completed, the scouts camping there were invited to try out the standard course.

Fin5 2019

Fin5 this year was held in Tahko, Nilsiä and in Rautavaara Airfield, which included TrailO competitions for the first time. The whole event was 6 days in total, from 14/7 to 19/7, including 5 FootO competitions and 5 TrailO competitions, among them 2 TrailO competitions were world ranking events.

There were 3 Hong Kong athletes entered the TrailO competitions, including Michael Chun Chi Tsang from Scout Orienteering Club (elite class), Kwok Wah Kwong from Hong Kong Orienteering Club (public class), and Louise Mang Wah Li from Hong Kong Orienteering Club (public class).

The TrailO competitions, except the competitions on 16/7 when no FootO took place, were held after the FootO competition at the same or nearly place so it was possible to participate in both. The competitions on 16/7 were world ranking events.

Race 1 was held in Huuhkaja, Lapinlahti on 15/7, which was a PreO with 20 controls and 3 time controls in elite class, and 15 controls and 1 time control in public class. In the elite class, 71 competitors started the race. There were 3 controls voided, leaving 17 valid controls. Geir Myhr Øien from Norway won the race with 16 points and 35 seconds, and Rudi Olvenmyr got the first runner-up with 16 points and 229 seconds. Michael Chun Chi Tsang got 12 points and placed 39th out of 71. In the public class, Kwok Wah Kwong and Louise Mang Wah Li got the 5th and the 9th out of 9 started competitors respectively.

Races 2 and 3 were held in Halssi, Nilsiä on 16/7, which were world ranking events. TempO was done first and PreO afterwards. There were 7 stations with 5 time controls each, i.e. 35 controls in total. 65 competitors participated in the elite class and 4 competitors participated in the public class. Pinja Mäkinen from Finland won the elite race with 253 seconds in total, Lauri Mäkinen and Antti Rusanen, both from Finland, got the first runner-up with 257 seconds in total with a tie. Michael Chun Chi Tsang got 482 seconds and placed 22nd out of 65, with 4.01 world ranking points. In the public class, Kwok Wah Kwong and Louise Mang Wah Li got the 2nd and the 4th out of 4 started competitors respectively.

There were 20 controls and 4 time controls in the elite PreO race, and 20 controls and 1 time control in the public PreO race. 1 control was voided in both classes, leaving 19 valid controls. There were 73 started competitors in the elite race. Lars Jakob Waaler from Poland won the race and John Kewley from Great Britain got the first runner-up, with 18 points by both competitors distinguished by time controls. Michael Chun Chi Tsang got 13 points and ranked the 54th out of 73, with 7.62 world ranking points. In the public class, Kwok Wah Kwong and Louise Mang Wah Li got the 1st and the 6th out of 6 started competitors respectively.

Race 4 was held in Tahko Village on 17/7, which was a TempO with 5 stations, 5 time controls each. 61 competitors started the elite race. Antti Rusanen from Finland won the race with only 97 seconds total in 25 controls, and Ján Furucz from Slovakia got a close first runner-up with 103 seconds. Michael Chun Chi Tsang got 277 seconds and placed the 18th out of 61. In the public class, Kwok Wah Kwong and Louise Mang Wah Li got the 9th and 10th out of 10 started competitors respectively.

Race 5 was held in Tahkovuori on 18/7, which was a PreO race. There were 22 controls and 3 time controls in the elite race, and 22 controls and 1 time control in the public race. There were 63 competitors in the elite race. Antti Rusanen and Lauri Mäkinen, both from Finland, got full marks in the race, in which Antti Rusanen won it by faster time controls. Michael Chun Chi Tsang got 15 points and ranked the 44th out of 63. In the public class, Kwok Wah Kwong and Louise Mang Wah Li got the 9th and 12th places out of 20 started competitors respectively.

The overall ranking throughout the week was calculated by converting the PreO result into seconds using relay rules (60 seconds per mistake) first, taking the difference with the winner, and summing the best 4 out of 5 races. Antti Rusanen was the overall winner, Lars Jakob Waaler was the first runner-up, Geir Myhr Øien was the second up.

World championship 2019

The world championship this year was held in Idanha-a-Nova, Portugal from 23 June to 29 June. The programme included 2 days of PreO, a relay, TempO qualification with 2 parallel classes and final.

PreO 1 and PreO 2 were held in Quinta do Valongo and Quinta dos Ciprestes respectively with 65 participants.

There were 28 controls and 6 time controls in PreO 1. The winner in open class was Pinja Makinen from Finland who got perfect score, while Hong Kong athletes Chun Ho Ho, Chi Hang Liang and Yau Chiu Hui got 24, 23 and 22 points and ranked 45, 54 and 58 out of 65 participants respectively. The winner in para class was Pavel Dudik from Czechia with 27 points.

There were 30 controls and 6 time controls in PreO 2. The winner in open class was Robertas Stankevic from Lithuania who got 29 points. Yau Chiu Hui did better in PreO 2 and got 25 marks, ranked 38, Chun Ho Ho and Chi Hang Liang got 24 and 23 points and ranked 49 and 56 respectively. The winner in para class was Michael Johansson from Sweden with 27 points.

Pinja Makinen became the final winner in PreO in open class with 56 marks. The results of Hong Kong athletes in order were Chun Ho Ho, 48 points, ranked 49; Yau Chiu Hui, 47 points, ranked 52; Chi Hang Liang, 46 points, ranked 58. Ola Jansson became the final winner in para class with 53 marks.

The relay was held in Cidral with 3 x 10 controls for PreO, and 5 time controls for each competitor. There were 21 countries participating. Finland won the race in open class with 116 seconds, with no mistakes in the whole race. Hong Kong ranked 19 out of 21 with 658 seconds. Czechia won the race in para class with 9 countries with 710 seconds.

The TempO qualifications were held in Cidral with 6 time stations, with 5 controls each. There were 2 heats, red and green, and the top 18 competitors in each heat qualified for the final. Wing Kei Ng and Yau Chiu Hui belonged to red heat, Chun Ho Ho and Chi Hang Liang belonged to green heat.

The red heat was won by Antti Rusanen from Finland with 208 seconds. Wing Kei Ng and Yau Chiu Hui scored 593 and 621 and ranked 34 and 35 out of 38 respectively.

The green heat was won by Pavel Kurfurst from Czechia with 256 seconds. Chun Ho Ho and Chi Hang Liang scored 430 and 478.5 and ranked 23 and 28 out of 37 respectively.

The TempO final was held in São Pedro Vir-a-Corça with 8 time stations, with 5 controls each. Marit Wiksell from Sweden won the race with 294 seconds. No Hong Kong athletes were qualified to the final.

The international race season of 2018 has finished

Prague Trail Autumn marked the end of WRE races in TrailO this year. 1 athlete from Hong Kong, Michael Chun Chi Tsang participated in the competitions, in both PreO and TempO, and got 74th place out of 96 in PreO, and 52th place out of 91 in TempO.

The winner in PreO was Tomáš Leštínský from Czechia, who got 26 points out of 27, while the winner in TempO was Antti Rusanen from Finland, who scored 290.5 seconds for 35 controls.

The are 12 Hong Kong athletes in the TrailO world ranking list at the end of this year, 3 of them are in the top 100, including Yau Chiu Hui (46.80, 83rd), Michael Chun Chi Tsang (50.19, 94th) and Chi Hang Liang (53.88, 99th).

The top 3 athletes in the world this year are Antti Rusanen (1.49), Pinja Makinen (4.88) and Jan Furucz (5.48).

World Trail Orienteering Championship 2018

The World Trail Orienteering Championships this year, held in Daugavpils, Latvia, has ended. The Hong Kong team has achieved great results, with 2 team members entered TempO final.

TempO

The TempO race was held in Daugavpils Fortress. Petteri Hakala, representing Finland, won the title of World Champion in TempO. He completed 25 controls in 152.5 seconds, with 1 mistake causing 30 seconds as penalty, and totalled 182.5 seconds as the final result. Lennart Wahlgren representing Sweden and Jan Furucz representing Slovakia both got the first runner-up. They both completed 25 controls in 127 seconds with 2 mistakes, totalled 187 seconds.

The Hong Kong team members are Yau Chiu Hui, Tak Kun Li, Michael Chun Chi Tsang and Wang Ki Yuen, where Wang Ki Yuen was the first time in the team, and the others all had previous world championship experiences.

Athlete Heat Heat result Heat rank Final result Rank
Yau Chiu Hui B 264.5 11 343 27
Tak Kun Li A 300 15 383.5 31
Wang Ki Yuen B 385.5 28 did not advance
Michael Chun Chi Tsang A 460.5 31 did not advance

PreO

The PreO race was a 2-day race, held in Jaunā Forštate, in the southern part for the first day and in the northern part near the quarry for the second day. There were 28 controls on the first day and 33 controls on the second day. There were 5 athletes with perfect score in the open class, resulting in the podium place determined by the time controls. Jan Furucz representing Slovakia won the title of world champion in PreO by 30.5 seconds in time control, Geir Myhr Oien representing Norway got the first runner-up with 43 seconds, and Antti Rusanen representing Finland got the second runner-up with 45.5 seconds. While in the paralympic class, the first three places were won by Ola Jansson representing Sweden, Michael Johansson representing Sweden and Svein Jakobsen representing Norway in order, scoring 58, 57 and 56 out of 61.

The results of Hong Kong team in open class are follows:

Athlete Day 1 Day 2 Total Rank
Chun Ho Ho 24, 137.5″ 31, 89.5″ 55, 227″ 39
Chi Hang Liang 23, 90″ 28, 81.5″ 51, 171.5″ 52
Yau Chiu Hui 25, 151.5″ 24, 18.5″ 49, 170″ 56

Relay

The relay race was held near Jaunie Stropi. There were 30 PreO controls in total (10 each) and 4 controls in each time station.

In open class, Norway team won the relay race with 285 seconds in total, Latvia team got the first runner-up with 319 seconds, and Finland team got the second runner-up with 334 seconds. In paralympic class, the first three places are Sweden (453 seconds), Czechia (483 seconds) and Russia (645 seconds).

The Hong Kong team members of relay race in open class, in the starting order, were Chun Ho Ho, Chi Hang Liang and Yau Chiu Hui. The team got 548 seconds in total and placed the 17th.

WTOC 2018 TempO

TempO race of WTOC 2018 was held in Daugavpils Fortress today. There were 4 athletes representing Hong Kong in TempO.

Qualification

The qualification was in 2 parallel groups with best 18 from each qualified for final, with 6 stations of 4 controls each.

The results of Hong Kong athletes were follow:

Heat A:
15 Tak Kun Li 300″
31 Michael Chun Chi Tsang 460.5″

Heat B:
11 Yau Chiu Hui 264.5″
28 Wang Ki Yuen 385.5″

Final

There were 5 stations of 5 controls each in the final. Petteri Hakala from Finland got the World Champion with 182.5 seconds for a total of 25 controls, Lennart Wahlgren from Sweden and Jan Furucz from Slovakia both got the second place with 187 seconds.

There were 2 Hong Kong athletes qualified and their results were follows:

27 Yau Chiu Hui 343″
31 Tak Kun Li 383.5″

The full results can be read in the following links:

Heat A
Heat B
Final

Falco Cup 2018

Falco Cup 2018 was just held in Smiltynė, Lithuania in Curonian Spit National Park on 1st to 3rd August. The first two days’ competitions were PreO + TempO, with TempO stations at the end, and the last day’s competition was a world ranking event with PreO only.

There were 51 participants completed all the competitions, 7 from Hong Kong.

The winner was Sigurd Dæhli, got only 788 seconds in all competitions using relay formula, and the total results of Hong Kong participants are follows:

rank athlete result (seconds)
24 Yau Chiu Hui 1973
28 Chun Ho Ho 2133
30 Chi Hang Liang 2224
34 Michael Chun Chi Tsang 2423
36 Wangki Yuen 2485
39 Li Tak Kun 2633
43 Man Fai Timothy Kwong 2819

FinTrailO 2018

In the Easter just passed, the third set of TrailO world ranking events (WRE), FinTrailO was held in Turku. There are 6 competitions in this series, spanning over 4 days of Easter, schedule below:

30th March: PreO+TempO pre-competition
31st March: FinTrailO TempO (WRE, ECTO)
31st March: FinTrailO PreO 1 (WRE)
31st March night: Night TempO
1st April: FinTrailO PreO 2 (ECTO)
2nd April: Relay

6 athletes from Hong Kong participated the event, 5 of them in class E (elite), 1 in class A (advanced):
Tsz Ho Chui (MOPC): all competitions in class E (relay team HKG2)
Vivian Chung (OBAA): class E pre-competition, TempO, PreO 1, PreO 2, relay (team HKG2)
Yuet Ling Lau (OKOK Zone): all competitions in class E (relay team HKG2)
Chi Hang Liang (OS): all competitions in class E (relay team HKG1)
Wing Man So (OS): all competitions in class A (relay team HKG1)
Michael Chun Chi Tsang (Scout Orienteering Club): class E TempO, PreO 1, Night TempO

Pre-competition

Pre-competition was held on 30th March at a local winter swimming club in Uittamo Beach, which was a PreO and TempO combined competition, athletes completed PreO first and TempO followed immediately, and scored using relay rules. There were 25 PreO controls (3 voided) and 3 time stations with 5 time controls each in the competition.

101 athletes participated in class E competition, Petteri Suominen got the champion with great performance of 22 controls all correct, 143 seconds in 15 time controls. Ján Furucz got the first runner-up with 4 seconds behind. Alessio Tenani from Italy, the 1st in world ranking, got the 10th place with 224 seconds.

The best Hong Kong athlete was Tsz Ho Chui, 415 seconds at 53rd place. The results of other class E Hong Kong athletes were Chi Hang Liang, 425 seconds at 56th place; Yuet Ling Lau, 487 seconds at 63rd place; Vivian Chung, 843 seconds at 90th place.

TempO

TempO competition was the first competition among the 3 in the championship, which was a world ranking event and European Cup competition, held on 31st March in Ruissalo. There were 6 time stations with 5 time controls each in the competition.

105 athletes participated in class E competition, Antti Rusanen got the champion with blazing fast speed of 188 seconds in 30 time controls. Alessio Tenani from Italy, the 1st in world ranking, got the 26th place with 395 seconds.

The best Hong Kong athlete was Tsz Ho Chui, 39 seconds at 17th place. The results of other class E Hong Kong athletes were Chi Hang Liang, 439 seconds at 36th place; Michael Chun Chi Tsang, 561 seconds at 61st place; Yuet Ling Lau, 629 seconds at 69th place; Vivian Chung, 807 seconds at 91st place.

PreO 1

PreO 1 competition was the 2nd competition among the 3 in the championship, which was a world ranking event, held immediately following TempO competition. There were 28 controls and 3 time controls in the competition.

105 athletes participated in class E competition, Marit Wiksell got the champion with great performance of 28 controls all correct and 7 seconds in time controls. Antti Rusanen from Finland, and Alessio Tenani from Italy, the 1st in world ranking, both got the first runner-up with all correct and 9 seconds in time controls.

The best Hong Kong athlete was Michael Chun Chi Tsang, 23 points 80 seconds at 72nd place. The results of other class E Hong Kong athletes were Yuet Ling Lau, 22 points 87 seconds at 81st place; Chi Hang Liang, 21 points 16 seconds at 84th place; Vivian Chung, 21 points 45 seconds at 90th place; Tsz Ho Chui, 20 points 20 seconds at 91st place.

Night TempO

Night TempO was held at night 31st March in the centre of Turku. There were 6 time stations with 5 time controls each in the competition.

62 athletes participated in class E competition, Antti Rusanen from Finland got the champion with 259 seconds in 30 time controls. Alessio Tenani, formerly the 1st in world ranking, got the 6th with 343 seconds.

The best Hong Kong athlete was Tsz Ho Chui, 368 seconds at 10th place. The results of other class E Hong Kong athletes were Michael Chun Chi Tsang, 538 seconds at 40th place; Chi Hang Liang, 559 seconds at 44th place; Yuet Ling Lau, 694 seconds at 51st place.

PreO 2

PreO 2 was the final competition among the 3 in the championship, which was a European Cup competition, held on 1st April in Ruissalo. There were 39 controls and 3 time controls in the competition.

103 athletes participated in class E competition, Antti Rusanen got the champion with great performance of 39 controls all correct, 8 seconds in time controls. Ján Furucz from Slovakia got the first runner-up with all correct also and 9 seconds in time controls. Alessio Tenani from Italy, formerly the 1st in world ranking, got the 11th place with 38 points, 11 seconds.

The best Hong Kong athlete was Tsz Ho Chui, 33 points 16 seconds at 60th place. The results of other class E Hong Kong athletes were Chi Hang Liang, 28 points 93 seconds at 89th place; Yuet Ling Lau, 25 points 148 seconds at 98th place; Vivian Chung, 23 points 157 seconds at 100th place.

Relay

Relay competition was held on 2nd April in Kielletty Alue. There were 36 PreO controls in the competition, where each team member need to answer 20 of them, for each control, score is given only if it is answered by a team member, and all answered team members got it correct, and 5 time controls for each team member.

17 teams participated in class E competition, Italy team got the champion with 445 seconds, where Hong Kong HKG2 team got the 16th place with 1493 seconds, and HKG1 team got the 17th place with 1502 seconds.

Total result

97 athletes participated in all three championship class E competitions in FinTrailO, Antti Rusanen got the overall champion with 208 seconds total in three competitions; Sigurd Dæhli got the first runner-up, 329 seconds total; Ján Furucz got the second runner-up, 406 seconds total. Alessio Tenani from Italy, the 1st in world ranking before the event, got the 10th place with 475 seconds total.

The best Hong Kong athlete was Tsz Ho Tsui, 1245 seconds at 61st place. The results of other class E Hong Kong athletes were Chi Hang Liang, 1598 seconds at 74th place; Yuet Ling Lau, 1974 seconds at 82nd place; Vivian Chung, 2329 seconds at 91st place.

There will be 7 Hong Kong athletes in the world ranking list after the event. Remaining TrailO international competitions in this year include the European Championship at the end of April in Slovenia, Falco Cup at the beginning of August in Lithuania, the World Championship immediately afterwards in Latvia, and Prague Trail Autumn at the beginning of October in Czech Republic.