Former star to coach young HK squad at King's Cup
Yung Kam-wah, who recently announced his retirement from internationals, has been appointed the coach for the Hong Kong team when they head for the ninth Thailand King's Cup next week.
'This is a very good opportunity, as I said before that I would like to start a career in coaching when I retire from the sport,' said the Fukien playmaker.
'Although I will still play club basketball next season, I think it will be a good start in coaching if I can lead the team to do well in Bangkok.'
The 33-year-old point guard announced his retirement from the Hong Kong team last month after helping the squad win the Super Kung Sheung Cup three times in a row.
'I have been coach of the Hong Kong junior squad on a number of occasions and also run some training courses for the youngsters,' said Yung, who is a qualified coach of the Hong Kong Basketball Association. 'But this will be the first time that I coach a full senior squad and there are a lot of things that I need to learn.'
The King's Cup features six teams from the region, including Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Hanyang University from South Korea, Hong Kong and hosts Thailand.
'Of the five teams, Malaysia Indonesia, Thailand and Hong Kong are of a similar standard and it should be very close when they play against each other. The remaining two [the Philippines and Hanyang University] should be the tournament favourites,' said Yung.
A single round robin will be played to decide the top two teams who will qualify for the final.
'Hong Kong will be fielding many players with a great deal of potential and they are also a bit younger than the ones who won the Super Kung Cup,' said Yung.
'However, many of these youngsters should be stars in the future. The King's Cup will probably give them good international exposure.'
Towering forward Song Fong, who also retired recently, is not in the squad and Yung admitted his absence would pose some difficulties. 'Of course we miss the service of Song, but we also need to give the youngsters their chance.'
Squad: Tam Wai-yeung (South China), Lui Chor-wai, Leung Kwok-shing, Cheng Kam-hing, Ko Wing-sang (Fukien), Poon Chi-ho, Heung Chun-keung (Wing Lun), Wong Chun-wai, So Yee-chun (New Youth), Lee Kim-wong (Happy Valley), Cheung Kam-hei (Mou Fung).
