RYODEN Sports Limited

RYODEN Sports Limited is a subsidiary of Ryoden International, part of the diverse Ryoden (Holdings) group.

Founded in 1966 as the Ryoden Electrical Engineering Company, the company was started as a joint venture by businessman Hu Fa-kuang (F K Hu) and Mitsubishi Japan as an importing agent, contractor and a maintenance agent for Mitsubishi lifts and escalators in Hong Kong and Macau.

Herman Hu, managing director of Ryoden International, and son of F K Hu, said the company entered the consumer products business five years ago when it acquired the company Valglo, a golf equipment importing business.

'The company had been around for about 20 years and it was run by an old German gentleman who was looking to retire,' Mr Hu said. 'He was strictly an importer and distributor with a couple of lines, so we acquired the company and changed the name to Ryoden Sports.' Mr Hu said it was natural for the company to enter the golf equipment business because sports had always been part of his family's life.

'I grew up in a sporting environment and it was something that the whole family enjoyed. My family has been involved in tennis for as long as I can remember,' he said.

Mr Hu's grandfather, Hu Shien-sun, helped bring tennis back to China at the turn of the century after studying at Cornell University in New York state.