New Stars

Page 7

Interview with an Archery Athlete

Elegant and Traditional, A Niche Sport with a Warm Community

Cheung Jit, now 16, is a member of the Hong Kong National Youth Archery Squad. His journey with archery began at the age of 10, when his father gave him a toy bow. From then on, Cheung was drawn to what he saw as an elegant sport. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2022, he decided to make productive use of his spare time and formally committed himself to archery training. In 2023, he earned his first medal at a youth competition.

The “recurve bow” that Cheung specialises in is exactly the type used in the Olympic archery events. This bow demands exceptional technical proficiency and consistency, aligning perfectly with his preference for tradition and his quest for mastery.

While archery remains a relatively niche sport in Hong Kong, partly due to a shortage of competition-standard venues that can limit participation, the community itself is highly accessible. As Cheung pointed out, local athletes have relatively easy access to equipment, and the local archery community is supportive and eager to nurture newcomers. This welcoming environment, he believes, lowers the barrier for beginners.

Precision in Equipment and Excellence in Training

For Cheung, the appeal of archery lies in its deceptive simplicity, which belies the sport’s true complexity. Outsiders often attribute the competition outcomes solely to an athlete’s performance, overlooking the crucial role of equipment preparation. He explained that every component of the bow, including its weight, must be adjusted to suit an archer’s personal feel, while the length and stiffness of arrows must also align precisely with individual characteristics. Only when the equipment becomes a natural extension of the body can an archer achieve true unity with the bow. As such, meticulous equipment preparation before competition is just as important as on-the-day performance.

Cheung trains three to four times a week after school and at weekends, including Saturday sessions with the youth squad. Reflecting on his first participation in the Asian Youth Archery Championships in 2024, he admitted that his limited experience with centralised training had left him underprepared in both technique and equipment setup. This led to competition anxiety, which ultimately affected his performance.

In March 2025, Cheung travelled to the Republic of Korea, a powerhouse in archery, for intensive training under the guidance of a former Korean national team coach, who praised his natural talent for the sport. That July, he attended another training camp in Hainan, in preparation for the World Archery Youth Championships, during which he became more mature physically and mentally. Cheung believes that overseas training not only improves technical skills but also strengthens team cohesion through deeper mutual understanding, an especially vital factor in team events.

Olympic Dreams Forged through Dedication

Looking ahead, Cheung’s goal is clear: to represent Hong Kong at the Olympic Games and bring home a medal. A self-described perfectionist, he is drawn to archery precisely because it is a sport where success hinges on precision down to the finest of margins. Through relentless daily practice, he hopes to stand among the world’s elite archers one day.

Cheung firmly believed that “a person’s greatest limitation is a lack of imagination for their own goals”. To him, archery is as much about self-confidence as it is about techniques. Although the pursuit of his dream is demanding, especially when balancing training with academic responsibilities and sacrificing much of his free time, every small improvement on the shooting range reassures him that his efforts are worthwhile. We sincerely wish Cheung Jit every success, hoping that one day his arrow will strike the target of his dreams and that he will shine brightly on the Olympic stage.