Local hero Marco Fu will take on the likes of Stephen Hendry and Ken Doherty in Hong Kong later this month in the Snooker Masters Challenge, which offers a total of #70,000 in prizemoney.
The star-studded lineup for the competition, which is to be held from August 21 to 24 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, also includes world champion Mark Williams and the evergreen Jimmy White.
Thailand's James Wattana, 1998 Asian Games gold medalist Shokat Ali from Pakistan and China's 16-year-old prodigy Ding Junhui will join Fu to make up an Asian quartet. The eight players have been drawn into two groups. 'Hendry is one of the most consistent players out there. He may not be at his best, but he is still very good. I think he is one of the favourites for the competition,' Fu told the South China Morning Post.
'As for myself, I think I've improved over the last few years. My strength is in scoring points but I've also improved my defensive plays.'
The other group is made up of Williams, Wattana, Ding and the 41-year-old White.
The competition's director, Hong Kong coach Chan Chor-kwan, said he believed Fu had a good chance of taking the tournament. 'He has been training hard every day and will have the home crowd behind him.' But the 25-year old Hong Kong ace was more modest about his chances.
