Imagine SpongeBob SquarePants facing Super Mario at one squash court, while a Hawaiian tourist smashes a ball to Superman at the court next door.
This was the scene played out at the Hong Kong Football Club yesterday as the annual Wing Ding Squash Tournament got into full swing.
The 13th Wing Ding, one of the most fun and colourful fund-raising events in Hong Kong, raised more than HK$1.1 million for this year's Operation Santa Claus (OSC) appeal.
The tournament started in 1998 to celebrate the memory of Yuen Kam-wing, a physically disabled man who helped run the Hong Kong Squash Centre on Cotton Tree Drive. Yuen died at the age of 33 from complications related to his illness.
The money raised yesterday will go to 16 beneficiaries identified by OSC, an annual fund-raising campaign jointly organised by the South China Morning Post and Radio Television Hong Kong. Since it was established in 1988, OSC has supported more than 100 Hong Kong charities.
Under the rules of the Wing Ding, players must wear fancy dress and each plays 13 three-minute games. A horn blasts every three minutes to signal the start of a new game, and the players race from court to court.