HK fans ready to cheer Olympic champions
Olympic gold medallists China arrived yesterday for the Hong Kong Health Check FIVB World Grand Prix as organisers warned tickets for this weekend's competition were running out fast.
The women's team - Olympic champions in 1984 and 2004 - have always been a drawcard and it is doubly so this time with the Olympic Games just around the corner, resulting in only a handful of tickets still being available, according to organiser Vivien Fung Lau Chiang-chu.
'Most of the tickets are already gone. The China women's team is always popular with the Hong Kong fans and with Olympic fever in the air, we expect the three-day tournament to be sold out,' Fung said.
China, Cuba, Italy and Japan will take part in the Hong Kong leg of the World Grand Prix starting on Friday at the 12,500-seater Hong Kong Coliseum. With all four teams having qualified for the Beijing Olympics - China as hosts getting an automatic entry - the tournament will give fans a preview of what to expect in August.
'All four teams will be at the Olympics and all of them will want to score some psychological points,' Fung said.
A total of 12 teams will take part in the Olympic women's event in Beijing. In addition to the four in action this weekend, the others to have qualified are Algeria, Brazil, United States, Poland, Serbia, Kazakhstan, Russia and Venezuela.
It will also be the last major international event before the Coliseum closes down for renovation for next year's East Asian Games.
