HONGKONG were last night handed an unexpected boost in their bid to reach the Dunhill Cup finals - courtesy of Fijian superstar Vijay Singh.
The territory had originally been told they would have to pre-qualify for the World Qualifying tournament in Taiwan in two weeks' time.
But they were informed yesterday that they had been elevated to being one of six Asia-Pacific nations who go straight into the main qualifying tournament.
The lucky break for the territory's team of Yau Sui-ming, Dominique Boulet and Richard Kan came about following the late withdrawal from the Fijian team of Singh, ranked number 26 in the world.
Tournament director Peter German said: ''Because of Singh's withdrawal the International Advisory Committee have decided that Fiji no longer warrant an exemption and will now be asked to pre-qualify.
''As a consequence of this, the IAC have decided to exempt Hongkong from the pre-qualifying tournament.'' Joe Hardwick, chairman of the Hongkong PGA, said: ''We're delighted to be invited and our players are determined to make the most of our good fortune.'' Had Hongkong not been given an exemption they would have had to play against Burma, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan and Singapore in a 36-hole pre-qualifier with the top two progressing to the main qualifying event.