One guess as to Hong Kong's standing in the world as an Ultimate Sports City? It's not hard to hazard the answer is nowhere. Well, at least not among the 25 cities shortlisted by SportBusiness, the industry's last word on global sports cities.
Held every two years since 2006, the prestigious awards are based on the history of hosting sporting events. Cities are ranked on a range of criteria, including the number of annual events, events held/to be held or won between 2008 and 2016, numbers of federations hosted, the calibre of events being bid for, facilities/venues, transport, accommodation, government support, security, legacy, public sports interest, quality of life and marketing.
Hong Kong is not in the picture. That's a damning indictment on those who make believe we are Asia's World City. All that posturing and self-aggrandisement doesn't fool anyone.
Asia's World City is, in fact, Singapore. The Lion City has dropped from second in 2010 to sixth in the latest rankings released a fortnight ago. Two years ago Singapore hosted the Youth Olympic Games, but despite the absence of a multi-sports international competition last year Singapore still warded off strong challenges from Tokyo (No 11), Dubai (14), Doha (17), Kuala Lumpur (20) and Pyeongchang, South Korea (21) to be rated as the top sports city in Asia.
Singapore was ranked behind London, Melbourne, Sydney, New York and Manchester. And where is Hong Kong? Nowhere, which is a crying shame.
Speaking at last month's Sport Accord international convention in Quebec, Canada - when these awards were also announced - the chief executive of the Singapore Sports Council, Lim Teck Yin, said Singapore would not rest on its laurels, despite its top-dog ranking in Asia, and they were committed to building a diverse events strategy, one which would help sustain a sporting culture.
He emphasised the recognition proved that size doesn't matter. Tiny Singapore was more than able to stand in the company of the big boys, boasted Lim, who stressed 'we never let our size stand in the way of delivering first-class sporting events'. With the Singapore Sports Hub set for completion in 2014, the future looked brighter than ever, Lim added.