Hong Kong players will have their last chance to prepare for the Asian Games at the HK$160,000 Crocodile Challenge Cup next week.
World No 17 Annie Au Wing-chi and Joey Chan Ho-ling, both Games representatives, will face players from France, New Zealand, Malaysia and Japan at Hong Kong Squash Centre from October 27 to 31.
In the men's event, Max Lee Ho-yin and Dick Lau Siu-wai will also expect tough competition from overseas players.
'We want to provide our players with more competition prior to the Guangzhou Games, and the tournament serves that purpose,' Hong Kong coach Tony Choi Yuk-kwan said. 'The Asian Games is the biggest target of the year and we want the players to be in their best form.'
Top seed Au is in Mexico for a ranking tournament, but will return home early next week to complete her final preparations for the Games.
Hong Kong have the best chance of gold in the women's team event in Guangzhou, where they will likely face long-time rivals Malaysia, headed by world No 1 Nicol David, in the final. Hong Kong beat the Malaysians 2-1 when they met in the Asian Championships semi-finals in India in May. Hong Kong went on to win the title against the hosts.
