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A JOKE doing the rounds in tennis circles is that the decision by Hong Kong's Davis Cup captain Kelvin Inge to run for the presidency of the Hong Kong Tennis Association must have given long-serving incumbent Philip Kwok a heart attack.

 For you see, Inge is a cardiologist.

 This doctor of medicine is now taking on the establishment, in the shape of Kwok, in a head-on challenge never seen before in Hong Kong tennis.

 For the first time the post of HKTA president will be decided by a vote. On Thursday, representatives of the 46 clubs in Hong Kong, six members of the Hong Kong Tennis Foundation and seven councillors on the HKTA executive will cast their votes at Sports House.

 There will be a total of 105 votes - the clubs have two votes each - and it will be a first-past-the-post system.

 'It is going to be very interesting. No one has ever contested Philip as he has been around for such a long time,' said David Ho, former Hong Kong team manager and HKTA official. Kwok, 60, was ushered into the seat of power in December 1983. He took over from F.K. Hu in an orderly handover and has reigned unopposed for the past 16 years. The post is only for two years. But on the past seven occasions, no one has had the inclination or the guts to go against Kwok.

 All that changed a few months ago when Inge, 36, decided that it was time for fresh and young blood to rejuvenate local tennis.

 'It was not a bolt from the blue. I had thought about this for a long time and made my mind up four months ago. I have listened to a lot of people who feel there should be change,' said Inge.

 The former Hong Kong star - in 1981 he was number eight in the ITF junior world ranking, the highest reached by a local player - has apparently fired the imagination of enough people with his bold bid that Kwok is by all accounts a worried man.

 'There is no question that Philip has done a good job for a long period of time.

 'But in the last five years or so, it seems that the ship has been drifting. The popularity of the game amongst youngsters seems to have dropped. My job will be to raise the profile of the game in this town,' said Inge.

 Kwok, who also has the honorific 'Dr' attached to his name, brushes aside Inge's claims that the hand on the tiller has been wayward.

 'The first thing he should know is that the president's role is to find a consensus. This office does not come with any real power. I have to work with the council who, I must add, totally support me and are happy with my leadership,' said Kwok.

 'Should there be change just for the sake of change? I have read his platform. But all his goals and targets are what we are doing. The only thing is that in these last two years, things have been overshadowed by our bid to get back our Focus Sport category, which we have now achieved.'  In a letter sent to all club conveners, Inge calls for a mandate to make the HKTA 'more forward looking and accountable', and to get the clubs more involved with the HKTA.

 'I'm seeking to improve all levels of the game in this town . . . from the elite down to the grassroots and recreational levels,' says Inge, who is relying on his personal knowledge of the system as his main credential for the job.

 It was as a 15-year-old that Kelvin Ng - he changed his name to Inge when studying at Cambridge University because people found it hard to pronounce 'Ng' in England - came into the limelight when he won the Sir Ivo Rigby Trophy for the best Hong Kong junior player.

 He represented Hong Kong at all levels from 1977 to 1985. He was the first local player to win a Davis Cup match, winning both his singles matches against the Philippines in 1982 - although Hong Kong still lost 3-2.

 His budding tennis career was cut short by the pursuit of a professional career. In 1995 he returned to Hong Kong after qualifying as a doctor but soon became involved in tennis again when he was named Hong Kong's Davis Cup captain.

 Now he wants to go further.

 'The only way to make changes is by coming in at the top. I need at least five years for my vision of Hong Kong tennis to succeed. It can't happen overnight.'  His vision includes more children playing the game at public venues, clubs organising more competitions, a newsletter or a web site keeping the public up to date with the affairs of the HKTA and for Hong Kong to regain its lost glory and prestige in the region.

 'When I was playing, Hong Kong were the number one team in Asia in the under-18 and under-16 age categories. Today we are nowhere. We also have been relegated to Group Two of this region's Davis Cup competition.

 'When I was playing there were four or five youngsters ranked in the ITF's top 50 list. Today only Wayne Wong is in the top 50 in the boys.

 'At the lower levels it seems fewer players are playing the game. This is sad because the more players there are, the better the chances of finding the next Michael Chang.'  Inge is in no doubt that tennis has gone backwards in recent times due to problems off the court, too.

 He says: 'There seems to be a lot of political infighting which has hurt the development of the game. Hong Kong tennis has enough money and support. All we need is a cohesive plan and I hope I'm given the chance to put one into place.'  Kwok, whose family runs the Wing On Group, has his own plans for taking tennis into the new millennium.

 It does not include Inge at the helm.

 'My concern is that a person who has not been part of the council is running for this job. He has not been a part of the team,' says Kwok.

 A team player or a maverick star? This is the question facing local tennis this Thursday.



It's doctor against doctor in battle for top tennis post