The Sailing Federation of Hong Kong, China, said on Thursday the standard of dinghy sailing in the SAR is very high as evidenced by the region making history in winning its first-ever gold medal in the sport at the National Games.

The praise came a day after Nicholas Halliday bagged the medal at the 15th National Games in the men's single-handed dinghy ILCA 7 event for Hong Kong's first gold in the Games.

Federation vice president David Fan told RTHK he was very pleased with the result, calling it a breakthrough for the SAR.

He noted that Halliday has been performing well this year, as the sailor topped the podium twice before the Games, one of which was the French Olympic Week in France in April.

However, Fan hopes the public will not neglect other Hong Kong sailors at the Games.

"We hope that the public will not only focus on Halliday because we have a total of eight athletes representing Hong Kong at sailing competitions at the National Games this time," he said.

"Even though only Halliday won a medal, some athletes came in fourth or fifth, which is definitely not an unsatisfactory result.

"We thank the coaching team for the long-term training.

"We hope this is a beginning and that our performance will continue to get better."

Sports professor Lobo Louie from the Education University said on the same show that he believes Halliday's victory would lift the spirits of Hong Kong's 600-strong contingent.

"Given that the Hong Kong team has already won the first gold at an early stage, it will draw the public's attention towards the Games," he said.

"I believe Halliday's gold medal will also boost morale for hundreds of Hong Kong athletes. Morale is most crucial in competitive sports."

He expects the government and the federation will allocate more resources to the sport following the victory.