Hong Kong's world champion to miss Games
Hong Kong fans will miss the opportunity to see newly crowned amateur snooker world champion Ng On-yee in action at the East Asian Games next month.
The 19-year-old, who won the women's title at the ONGC-IBSF World Snooker Championship in Hyderabad, India, this week, was not part of the Games training squad and, therefore, could not represent Hong Kong at the Games, said Danny Mak Yiu-hoi, chairman of the Hong Kong Billiard Sports Control Council.
'It's pity that the world champion cannot take part in the Games, but Ng made the decision not to join the squad,' Mak said yesterday. 'She told us she would be unavailable for the team's training camp for the Games for personal reasons and we had no other choice but to drop her.
'She is not the only one not to be playing. In the men's division, one of the top players, Chan Wai-kei, also failed to make the training camp and gave up the opportunity.'
Ng, who works at her father's snooker club, thrashed Australian veteran Kathy Parashis 5-1 in Hyderabad on Tuesday.
Hong Kong will now be represented by Jaique Ip Wan-in and Yu Ching-ching in the women's six-red singles.
Ip was the silver medallist at the world championships two years ago in Egypt. She will meet Cha You-ram of South Korea in the opening round, with Yu taking on another Korean player, Kim Ga-young, after the draw was made yesterday.
'We have entered seven of the eight events and hopefully we can win at least four medals,' s Mak said.
'But don't ask me to predict the colour of the medals at this stage, as a lot of things can happen. We are certainly holding an advantage playing on home soil, but obviously our players will also feel the pressure of expectation from the home crowd.
'Cue sports are included in the Games for the first time by the hosts and, therefore, the expectations are high.'
In the men's snooker singles, home favourite Marco Fu Ka-chun will take on Zhou Zhao-gue of Macau in the opener, but his real rest will come in the next round against Yu Delu of China.
'Yu finished with a bronze medal in Hyderabad and is one of the big improvers from the mainland,' Mak said.
'The other player from China, Tian Pengfei, is seeded first in the upper pool, and it will be a great clash if Fu meets him in the final.'
Fu will also represent Hong Kong in the men's team event, as the top seeds are already in the semi-finals owing to a bye in the first round of the five-team competition.
The hosts need only to beat South Korea to reach the final.
