Asian champion Chiu Hin-chun said he was nowhere near rowing at his best despite winning gold in South Korea last weekend.

The Hong Kong rower also admitted he was wary of the threat posed by his China, Japan and Uzbekistan rivals at the Asian Games in Japan in September.

Chiu, who earned his career-first Hong Kong Sports Stars award last month, was among five gold medal winners from the city at the Asian Rowing Cup in Chungju.

Rowing in the men’s lightweight single sculls A final at Tangeum Lake, Chiu finished the 2,000m course in seven minutes and 34.226 seconds, almost three seconds faster than his closest rival from Kazakhstan, who finished in 7:37.105. A rower from Thailand finished third in 7:43.664.

Despite the win, Chiu was not that pleased with his performance and believes there is room for improvement.

“My training phase has not yet reached its peak; there were gusts and headwind throughout the race, which forced me into some mistakes, including catching a crab about 100m into the race,” he said.