TENNIS pioneer Ken Catton leaves the territory today nearly half a century after he arrived in Hong Kong as a 23-year-old soldier with the British military.
The man who was instrumental in introducing professional tennis to Hong Kong retired as tournament director of the multi-million dollar Marlboro Championships last year in preparation for his retirement in Fonsorbes in the southwest of France.
But as Catton looks back on 50 years in the territory, he can be proud of how he fought through what seemed to be endless struggles and turned them into success.
But he does leave with two regrets.
'Hong Kong must have a top-class tennis facility. If we don't have a larger arena, Hong Kong will never be able to host a major tennis event,' said Catton. 'What we have at Victoria Park is not enough.
'To host something like the ATP finals we need a bigger arena with a retractable roof so that tennis can be played all year round.
'That it has not happened yet is one of my regrets. The other is that, more than 20 years since tennis became professional, Asia has yet to produce a truly international star.