The Hong Kong Table Tennis Association yesterday took its turn to announce a grand event - another partly funded by the government's post-Sars Relaunch Hong Kong campaign. The best female players will contest the US$85,000 Women's World Cup from December 17-19, thanks to a joint effort by the HKTTA, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department and title sponsor Volkswagen.
With the top three world-ranked players, including world champion Zhang Yining, among the cast, plus eight more ranked in the top 20, as well as the champions from each continent, it will be a world-class competition at the Queen Elizabeth Stadium in Wan Chai.Two locals, Tie Yana - ranked ninth in the world and a gold medal winner at last year's Asian Games in Pusan - and wildcard entry Lau Suifei will get the chance to compete in the first World Cup in Hong Kong since 1996.
Sixteen women will compete in four round-robin groups, with the winners and runners-up advancing to the quarter-finals. The champion will walk away with US$28,000.
'When we got the green light from the government to go for this event we jumped at the chance,' said HKTTA chairman Tony Yue. 'It was a late bid and that made things a bit tricky, but the International Table Tennis Federation knows table tennis is popular in Hong Kong and once Volkswagen was involved, they needed little convincing.'
