HK lines up world's best
Several of the world's top players have been lined up for a proposed tournament this summer to mark the 10th anniversary of Hong Kong's reunification with the mainland.
The event will have a Europe v Asia theme. Stephen Hendry, Ken Doherty and Ronnie O'Sullivan, who currently occupy the first, second and third spots in the world rankings, and former world champion Mark Williams, have been invited from Europe.
The Asian representatives will include Ding Junhui of China, James Wattana of Thailand, Marco Fu Ka-chun of Hong Kong and the winner of the Asian Amateur Championships to be held in Karachi, Pakistan, in June.
'This is a strong line-up which will definitely attract the fans,' said Mak Yiu-hoi, chairman of the Hong Kong Billiard Sports Control Council. 'We last hosted such a big tournament in 2003 as part of the 'Re-launch Hong Kong' campaign after the devastation of Sars. That tournament was well received by the fans. We are quite confident that the proposed tournament will become another great success because of the star-studded line-up.'
Mak said the agents of the four world-class players had confirmed that they would be available for the tournament, which will take place at the Queen Elizabeth Stadium from July 9-15, but they still needed to sort out the financial arrangements with the government.
'The proposed tournament is part of the reunification celebrations and therefore it is an activity under the government's celebration office, which is running a series of sporting events in July, ' he said.
Mak did not disclose the budget for the tournament, but it is estimated that it will cost around HK$3-4 million.
The government's celebration office is organising a series of sporting events this summer, but already the proposed football tournament has run into difficulties as it is poorly timed for attracting the top teams from Europe.
