The cream of Hong Kong's under-18 soccer talent is taking part in the 28th Asian Schools International Football Tournament 2000.
The tournament, the top championship in the region at the under-18 level, is being held from now until August 11 in Bangkok.
A total of 10 teams from Thailand, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Singapore, Macau, Sri Lanka, South Korea and Hong Kong are taking part.
'These young athletes represent the finest young soccer players in the territory. They have gone through a highly competitive selection process. I'm sure they are going to the tournament in their best shape,'said John Fan Kam-Ping chairman of the Hong Kong Schools Sports Federation at the flag presentation ceremony.
'It is encouraging to see that recently our athletes are getting more and more opportunities to compete in various international sports competitions. I hope our young players will benefit from these opportunities. I'm sure many of them may go on to rep resent Hong Kong in the Asian Games 2006. They should make use of these valuable opportunities to prepare themselves for the challenging tasks that lie ahead,' said Victor Hui Chun-fui, president of the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China.
Cheung Yu-wai, captain of the team, a fifth former from the Cotton Spinners Association Pre- vocational School, said that he had been capped four times at the under-18 level for the SAR including this one.
He is confident his team can make it to the semi-finals because the draw has been favourable.