'We can snatch multiple medals'
HK expected to produce the goods in table tennis, badminton and windsurfing
Hong Kong will send a Beijing Games squad only slightly larger than the one for Athens 2004, but Olympic committee secretary-general Pang Chung says they have realistic medal ambitions in at least three sports.
So far, 32 members of the squad have been confirmed, with a further two athletics wild-card picks expected to be known this month. Hong Kong sent 32 athletes to Athens and earned one silver medal, in the men's doubles table tennis competition.
With windsurfer Lee Lai-shan having clinched Hong Kong's only other Olympic medal - gold in the women's mistral at the 1996 Atlanta Games - a return of more than one medal would represent the territory's best performance.
'I think we have put together a strong squad with real medal hopes in a number of events, such as the two team events in table tennis, the women's singles in badminton and windsurfing, in which weather conditions will play a pivotal role,' said Pang.
'Hong Kong's athletes have proved themselves throughout the qualifying process and now they need to take it a step further on the big stage. I am confident they will do us proud.'
Pang said he was satisfied to assemble a squad high in quality rather than in numbers, even though it had originally been hoped they would be able to send a bumper-size contingent in light of this being a 'home' Olympiad.
'I cannot say we are disappointed not to be sending more as we are well aware of the very high standards demanded in qualifying,' he said. 'We, of course, want to see more Hong Kong athletes compete in the Olympics but it is not simply a matter of opening the gates and allowing anyone in.'
Pang was speaking at yesterday's Olympic Day Run at the Wan Chai Sports Ground, in which 4,000 people took part.
Timothy Fok Tsun-ting, chairman of the HKOC, was hopeful of a stronger showing in Beijing than Athens: 'Of course we are looking for a better result in Beijing but nothing is going to be easy.'
The table tennis teams, which bear the weight of most expectations, are engaged in their final preparations, with the women training in Beijing and the men in Xiamen.
'We completed the qualifiers in great style, with both the men's and women's teams making the top-four seeding,' said Hong Kong Table Tennis Association chairman Tony Yue Kwok-leung. 'The high seeding will definitely boost our medal hopes, but it is going to be a tough battle to win a medal.'
Sixteen squads will contest the team competition. The winners of each of the four groups will earn a place in the semi-finals. The four second-placed teams in the group stage, together with the two losing semi-finalists, will then compete in play-offs for the bronze medal.
Hong Kong aim to finish first in the group stage before facing fierce competition from heavyweights such as China, Germany and South Korea in the men's section and China, Singapore and South Korea in the women's draw.
