Hat-trick heroes
Hong Kong's squash team, the defending champions, retained their title at the third Inter-City Tournament held in Shanghai last month.
They defeated Beijing, Shanghai, Macau and Chinese Taipei to clinch the championship for the third year in a row.
The SAR squad, comprising Roger Ngan Lun-cheung, Connie Choi Man-shan , Karen Lau Siu-ying, Wong Hon-fung and Chiu Ho-fai, were outstanding during the April 13-15 tournament, which was held on a round-robin basis.
All the teams - with each squad consisting of three male and two female players - had to compete with each other.
Chiu, who took up the sport 12 years ago, is studying at the University of Hong Kong.
The 20-year-old said the tournament gave them an opportunity to assess the standards of their counterparts in the other cities.
'On the mainland, squash is not as well-organised as in Hong Kong. Their players are not so skilful but they keep improving,' Chiu said.
'Macau's team worked very hard. They did not have an official coach but they had intense practice sessions and took second place.'
Karl Mak, executive director of Hong Kong Squash, said the competition was aimed at providing an opportunity for players from the five cities to get together and exchange ideas.
'The Greater China region is playing an increasingly important role in sports events. For example, Hong Kong and Guangzhou will host the 2009 East Asian Games and 2010 Asian Games, respectively,' Mak said. 'We think that the Inter-City Tournament can help raise the overall standards of squash in the region.'
Taipei took part in the tournament for the first time.
The last two events were held in Macau and Beijing, respectively.
Hong Kong is likely to host the competition next year.
