SE Asia's biggest rink to open in Kowloon
As of next year, Hong Kong will have Southeast Asia's largest ice rink.
The 26- by 57-metre rink, which will be capable of hosting Olympic competitions, will be located in the atrium of the Megabox mall, currently under construction in Kowloon Bay.
The rink will open around May next year and will have views of Victoria Harbour through a 30-metre-high glass wall.
It is expected to enhance Hong Kong's position as the host of world sports tournaments, adding to the city's Rugby Sevens successes.
Plans for the rink were presented at a press conference at the Aberdeen Marina Club last week. Hong Kong's Olympic speed skating representative, Han Yueshuang, 23, who is originally from Jilin Province, demonstrated her skating skills along with five-year-old rising star and Olympic hopeful, Chan Sze-wai.
The Hong Kong national figure skating and speed skating teams will use the rink to train for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
Hong Kong's skaters are mostly trained in the mainland provinces of Heilongjiang and Jilin, as most rinks in Hong Kong are for commercial use and not up to international competition standards.
Timothy Fok Tsun-ting, president of the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, said local athletes had achieved remarkable progress in recent years and scored well in many international events.
'The building of more venues will definitely help promote this sport among the people of Hong Kong.'
Ice hockey was introduced in Hong Kong in 1984 and today there are more than 500 men, women and children taking part in the local league, which is based at Skyrink at Dragon Centre in Shamshuipo.
There are currently five recreational ice rinks in Hong Kong - Aberdeen Marina Club rink, Cityplaza Ice Palace in Taikoo Shing, Riviera Ice Chalet in Tsuen Wan, The Glacier in Festival Walk, Kowloon Tong and Skyrink.
From today until Saturday, Asiasport Limited, the marketing agent of Megabox rink, will host Asia's largest international ice hockey tournament involving
60 teams and 820 participants from 12 countries in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Asiasport chief executive David Saunders said the company was hoping to stage Asia's first 100-team ice hockey tournament at Hong Kong's new rink next spring.
