Eight fighting for eligibility given green light

Eight of the 10 Hong Kong athletes, who were fighting for eligibility, have been given the green light to represent the SAR at the Olympics after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) gave the go-ahead during a meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, yesterday.

Hong Kong sports supremo Timothy Fok Tsun-ting relayed the good news last night to Pang Chung, secretary general of the Hong Kong Sports Federation and Olympic Committee.

Pang said that eight local athletes - six table tennis players, one swimmer and one badminton player - had been given approval to compete at the Olympics after doubts were raised that they could not compete because of a 'passport-of-convenience' crackdown. Lawyers from the IOC met with Fok to look at the appeals lodged by Hong Kong and other countries hit by the new ruling and Hong Kong officials were confident that most of the athletes would be cleared.

Pang said: 'We are very happy that eight of the 10 athletes can go to the Olympics. We were confident they would be approved so now they can get on with their training.'

The Hong Kong athletes given the green light were Wang Chen (badminton), who briefly held the women's world number one ranking last year, and Asian Games gold medallist Tie Yana, plus table tennis teammates Cheung Yuk, Ko Lai-chak, Li Ching, Lin Ling and Lau Sui-fei. Swimmer Hannah Wilson, who recently earned her place on the squad after breaking the Hong Kong record during March's swimming trials, will also be Athens-bound.

Hannah's green light to Athens was vindication after a long and hard battle to finally get IOC approval. She presented the strongest case of the 10 athletes as she was born and raised in Hong Kong, although she holds a British passport.