Pair look to gain one of four wild cards Hong Kong receives
While competitors were put through their paces in the showjumping competition at Sha Tin last night, two spectators sweating it out high up in the stands had their eyes on the action and on the future.
Kenneth Cheng Man-kit and Samantha Lam are two of the seven members of the Hong Kong equestrian community who have been earmarked as possible representatives in the showjumping at next year's Olympics.
Ahead of them lie stringent qualifying procedures but the pair have a little bit of a leg up, so to speak, thanks to the fact that, as host of the event, Hong Kong receives four wild cards from the Federation Equestre Internationale.
For the 29-year-old Lam, the three days of test events were a chance to check out the facilities - and get a first-hand feel of what things might be like come next August.
'The layout is beautiful,' she said. 'The arenas are fantastic; the stabling is state of the art. It really makes me proud as a Hongkonger. I'd love to go out there and I'm looking forward to getting out there next year, hopefully.'
The 19-year-old Cheng had his qualifying chances boosted last year when he was able to take charge of the Swiss-bred horse Cornalin CH - bought for an estimated HK$2 million - but he knows there is still plenty of hard work ahead.
