A recently discovered recipe for success has been underpinning Oscar Coggins’ quest to book a ticket to this year’s Asian Games at the first time of asking.

The only Hong Kong man to qualify for Saturday’s Triathlon World Cup leg in Chengdu, which is doubling as the first of three selection races for the city squad, Coggins needs to finish in the top 20 of a first-rate 68-man field to automatically qualify for September’s Games.

The 26-year-old will dash down from his altitude camp in mainland province Yunnan on Thursday, replicating his approach before claiming National Games bronze last November, and again when he was 15th in a very competitive World Cup on Hainan Island seven weeks ago.

Andrew Wright, the Hong Kong head coach, said his athlete’s late arrival was designed to exploit a “three- to four-day window before people don’t feel so great because they’re readapting”.

“Our lead up to the National Games was great, and something felt like it clicked,” Wright said.

“Our plan is to keep this momentum rolling, and not force anything. I’ve not seen Oscar so consistent since I started coaching him when he was 13.