South China Morning Post - Hong Kong Sport

Covid-19 chaos for Asian football as region’s leagues hit hard by pandemic

Sat, 23 Jan 2021 02:41:27 GMT

A year ago, Hong Kong footballers were still training despite the unknowns that lay ahead, but right now football in any form is forbidden.What’s more, no one really knows when Hong Kong football will return.That is the only thing we do know.The local scene is in a sorrier state than usual after more than 18 months of disruptions, first by citywide anti-government protests and then the global pandemic.It is hoped that there will be a return of the second stop-start season of the Hong Kong…

Hong Kong football continues CEO search after six candidates fail to make the grade amid heavy ...

Fri, 22 Jan 2021 09:57:24 GMT

The Hong Kong Football Association is continuing its search for a new chief executive after all six candidates were unable to prove their suitability during the interview stage, its chairman said.An advertisement for the top job has been sent out again, with applications to close next week.“It is not easy to find the right person to lead an organisation with such huge tasks ahead,” said association chairman Pui Kwan-kay. “Football is the biggest professional sport in Hong Kong with the running…

As axing of Hong Kong Rugby Union Elite Rugby Programme sinks in, reality bites for local stars

Fri, 22 Jan 2021 04:00:15 GMT

The Hong Kong Rugby Union’s decision to cut its Elite Rugby Programme (ERP) is not the biggest surprise given the Covid-19 pandemic’s toll on the moneymaking HSBC/Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Sevens – but it is nonetheless a devastating blow to the men’s national 15s rugby set-up, said some of its last batch of professional athletes. Once respective contracts run out on June 30, all players and staff will revert to semi-professional models familiar to the pre-2016 rugby scene. This means no more…

Hong Kong rowers back in business with virtual regatta in bid to qualify for indoor Worlds

Thu, 21 Jan 2021 05:00:19 GMT

Hong Kong’s rowers will compete in their first race in more than a year this weekend at the Asian qualification for the World Rowing Indoor Championships, and possibly their only international race before the all-important qualifiers in May for the Tokyo Olympics.Chiu Hin-chun, Chan Chi-fung and Winnie Hung Wing-yan will spearhead a strong 19-member Hong Kong team, with the “regatta” taking place on rowing ergometers and through virtual competition. Chiu and Chan are the 2019 Asian…

Covid-19 continues to hit Thailand Open, but Hong Kong’s Angus Ng safely through to second round

Wed, 20 Jan 2021 08:19:24 GMT

Hong Kong’s Angus Ng Ka-long won his first-round match in men’s singles relatively comfortably at the Toyota Thailand Open, but there was a certain unease at the tournament after an Indian player became the latest to test positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday.Despite a runner-up finish in the first Bangkok tournament last weekend, the Hong Kong number one was stretched in his opening game at Impact Arena by Thailand’s Kantaphon Wangcharoen, the 2019 World Championships bronze medallist. The home…

Hong Kong government’s straitjacket on sport and recreation is suffocating entire industries

Wed, 20 Jan 2021 02:32:25 GMT

The decision by the Hong Kong Rugby Union to axe its Elite Rugby Programme – the full-time men’s 15-a-side national team set-up – comes as no surprise.The HKRU is in a financial bind as its monstrous cash cow, the Cathay Pacific/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens, was cancelled in 2020 and the 2021 edition has been postponed until November. There is no guarantee that it will be staged then, even with a vaccine now starting to be administered around the world.The HKRU has long relied on the Sevens to fill…

Mixed doubles pair Tang and Tse return to action in bid for World Tour finals spot

Tue, 19 Jan 2021 08:20:24 GMT

Mixed doubles pair Tang Chun-man and Tse Ying-suet are putting a disappointing week behind them in Bangkok as they take part in the second back-to-back Thailand Open, hoping to qualify for next week’s HSBC World Tour finals.Last week, the Hong Kong pair withdrew from their last-16 round match in the opening tournament after the coach of their German opponents tested Covid-19 positive on the eve of the match. Following the health guidelines provided by the Sports Institute back home, they chose…

Hong Kong Rugby Union axes professional men’s 15s elite programme as Covid-19 continues to ...

Mon, 18 Jan 2021 07:10:26 GMT

The Hong Kong Rugby Union will terminate its Elite Rugby Programme (ERP) – the full-time men’s 15-a-side national team set-up – after current player and staff contracts run out at the end of June.The decision to revert to its previous semi-professional model was a reluctant but necessary one given Covid-19 and its resultant financial and logistical impact, the Union said.This means 30 athletes, four part-time “junior ERP players” and five staff members, will not be renewed on a full-time basis…

Hong Kong’s Angus Ng bolsters his World Tour finals bid

Sun, 17 Jan 2021 14:40:51 GMT

Hong Kong’s Angus Ng Ka-long is on course to qualify for the season-ending BWF World Tour finals after his best performance in a Super 1000 tournament on Sunday in Bangkok.The 26-year-old was beaten 21-14, 21-14 by Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen in the final of the Thailand Open, surpassing his semi-final appearance at the 2019 All England Championships in Birmingham.Ng was ranked ninth in the World Tour standings before the Bangkok event but his impressive run to the final boosts his chances of…

Hong Kong’s Peter Tang remembered as ‘godfather of China golf’ and Zhao Ziyang’s ...

Sat, 16 Jan 2021 07:00:16 GMT

Hong Kong’s Peter Tang Shu-chuen asked some children from Sanxiang High School in Zhongshan to form a circle. Stood in the middle, Tang started to swing an imaginary golf club and asked the kids if they knew what he was doing.It was 1984 and none of the kids had heard about nor seen golf. One said hockey, another said fishing. Still clueless, they obediently imitated Tang’s motions. After watching them for 20 minutes, Tang picked out a small group of boys and girls.With that, Tang launched golf…

Angus Ng hits top form to beat Hong Kong teammate Lee Cheuk-yiu and reach the Thailand Open ...

Fri, 15 Jan 2021 10:40:02 GMT

Hard work paid off as Hong Kong’s Angus Ng Ka-long reached the semi-finals of the HK$7.8 million Thailand Open after beating fast-improving teammate Lee Cheuk-yiu in straight games at the Impact Arena in Bangkok on Friday.Despite struggling early in the first game, the Hong Kong number one took seven points in a row when 17-14 down to win the game 21-17. Ng then dominated the second 21-12 to wrap up a men’s singles last-four place.“I think I played my best match of the week so far,” said the…

Yonex Thailand Open: Hong Kong shuttlers will pull out if they find playing conditions unsafe, ...

Fri, 15 Jan 2021 02:19:32 GMT

Hong Kong shuttlers will pull out of the event if they feel unsafe playing as Covid-19 continues to batter the Yonex Thailand Open, the first of three back-to-back events in Bangkok as the Badminton World Federation attempts to restart the world tour amid the pandemic.“Our foremost concern is the safety of our players and we will not hesitate to pull them out of the event if there is any potential risk,” said head coach Tim He Yiming. “The organisers have set up a ‘bubble’ to guarantee safety…

Hong Kong’s fitness industry on verge of financial ruin as gyms fall –‘We are in a race ...

Thu, 14 Jan 2021 09:27:49 GMT

Fernando Junior is intent on putting a positive spin on what happened to him.In December, he decided to close BeWater, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu studio, after more than two years of operating in Central. At its peak in 2019, the studio had dozens of regular clients and Junior was making ends meet, and looking to grow his business in a healthy economy.Then the coronavirus pandemic hit and the Hong Kong government shut down gyms in March, a push-and-pull scenario that has seen establishments close…

Tokyo Olympics: windsurfers Hayley Chan and Michael Cheng confirmed for Tokyo as Covid-19 ...

Thu, 14 Jan 2021 00:02:22 GMT

Windsurfers Hayley Chan Hei-man and Michael Cheng Chun-leung will be making their second Olympic appearances after their selection was confirmed for the delayed Tokyo Games this summer.Chan and Cheng had secured their 2020 tickets for Hong Kong in the women’s and men’s RS: X after competing at the 2019 world championships in Torbole, Italy. The pair had their spots confirmed after going through a two-round internal selection that was completed last February.However, with the Tokyo Games being…

Hong Kong camp put on high alert in Bangkok after Covid-19 cases at Thailand Open

Wed, 13 Jan 2021 10:54:22 GMT

Hong Kong shuttlers have been put on high alert in Bangkok after several players in the Thailand Open tested positive for Covid-19 in the first international tournament of the year.Former women’s world number one, Saina Nehwal of India was among the three players cleared to play despite having initially tested positive, along with fellow Indian player HS Prannoy and Germany’s Jones Ralfy Jansen but Adham Hatem Elgamal, of Egypt, had to be withdrawn from the HK$7.8 million tournament because of…

Shuttler Angus Ng to play first match in 10 months following pandemic outbreak that hobbled ...

Tue, 12 Jan 2021 07:30:09 GMT

Shuttler Angus Ng Ka-long would never have expected to wait such a long time to play his next match when he returned from the 2020 All England Open in Birmingham. Nor would he have expected to compete under such rigorous conditions.The Hong Kong No 1 will take on Mark Caljouw of the Netherlands in the opening round of the “bubbled” Yonex Thailand Open on Wednesday, his first match in 10 months as the global pandemic outbreak wreaks havoc on the world sporting calendar. In another men’s singles…

Hong Kong police swiftly shut down Tamar Park gathering as tennis coaches cry foul –‘The ...

Mon, 11 Jan 2021 08:46:22 GMT

More than 100 police officers converged on Tamar Park on Monday in a massive show of force against an unofficial gathering by Hong Kong’s tennis community.About 50 players and coaches showed up at the park with their racquets and, adhering to social-distancing rules which limit public gatherings to two people, hit imaginary balls back and forth.Police warned the gathering via loudspeaker that it risked facing a HK$5,000 fine and then moved through attendees telling them to disperse immediately…

Organisers of May’s track cycling Nations Cup hopeful showpiece can still go ahead with ...

Mon, 11 Jan 2021 08:09:32 GMT

Organisers of this year’s UCI track cycling Nations Cup are putting up an additional HK$1 million to set up a proposed safety “bubble” so that the event can go ahead despite the city still battling the pandemic.Even after the postponement of both January’s Hong Kong Marathon and the Rugby Sevens in April, the four-day local cycling event on May 13-16 at Tseung Kwan O Velodrome could become the first major international sporting event to be held in the pandemic-hit city in 2021 – if they get the…

Maradona, Leo Messi and Son Heung-min – Hong Kong’s football tourists of the past

Sun, 10 Jan 2021 10:27:40 GMT

On January 10, 1982, a young Diego Maradona was among the Boca Juniors side to play Seiko at Hong Kong Stadium, which the Argentine tourists won 2-0.Maradona, then 21, pulled the strings in a 2-0 victory in which Seiko finished goalless despite having brought in Fifa 1978 World Cup winner Gerd Muller for the game.That match was just one example of some of the greatest footballers to have ever played the game showing their skills off in Hong Kong over the years, either on tours or in the annual…

Clearwater Bay Open likely to be axed as PGA Tour Series-China cancels whole 2021 season

Sun, 10 Jan 2021 07:53:44 GMT

Hong Kong’s 2021 sporting prospectus has been dealt another blow with confirmation that the 2021 season of the PGA Tour Series-China has been scrapped, likely taking with it the Clearwater Bay Open.Organisers of the Tour, a feeder circuit for the PGA Tour, announced on Saturday that the 2021 campaign was cancelled due to ongoing uncertainty around the Covid-19 pandemic in the region.While the PGA was able to lay out a road map for the Canada-based Mackenzie Tour and PGA Tour Latinoamerica to…