After a devastating knee injury, two surgeries, and an 18-month recovery period, 2012 Olympian Angel Wong Hiu Ying of Hong Kong came back with a vengeance to win beam at last weekend’s Hong Kong Open Championships.

The senior field wasn’t exactly a threatening one, but Wong didn’t need to face major rivals at her first meet back. For a gymnast who could barely straighten her leg only weeks earlier, a hit routine in Ma On Shan was all she wanted.

Wong did just that, competing a watered-down set with only about five skills because she’s still dealing with pain when working with bigger acro and landings. It went well, earning a 12.1 under the new code of points that takes routines down about half a point from what we would have seen last year, but more importantly Wong was just happy to get back out and competing again.

The 29-year-old didn’t want to retire on a low note, and so while she’s not fully ready to perform the skills and routines she’s capable of hitting, she considers her comeback a major victory and is already back to work, preparing for the next steps of her return with the hopes of being fully competitive in six months.

The Open, considered more of a ‘rookie’ meet, didn’t see any of Hong Kong’s other international elite competitors, so the scores overall were a bit low.

Ng Tsz Ching won the senior all-around and all event titles but beam with a 42.199, while junior Sy Wing Yu won in her division with a 43.366 in addition to taking the titles on bars and beam. Pun Lee Ling won the junior vault title, and there was a tie for floor gold as Jeanie Chung and Yeung Nga Sum both earned an 11.7 there.

In the espoir division, Tse Shun Ling won the all-around and every event but bars, where the title went to Cheung Ka Wing, who earned a total of 14.05, a bit inflated due to the bonus scoring at this level though it was still a solid routine.

Full results from the competition are available here.

Article by Lauren Hopkins