When snooker super stars Steve Davis and Doug Mountjoy came to Hong Kong
- The inaugural Camus Masters competition was held in 1983 and saw several top players descend on the colony
- The cost was similar to that paid out ‘to bring Liverpool to play in Hongkong’, according to the organiser
“Snooker stars on cue for HK,” ran a headline in the South China Morning Post on June 12, 1983. “World champion Steve Davis heads an impressive list of snooker superstars to compete in an invitation tournament in Hongkong,” the story continued.
Joining Davis at Hong Kong’s first Camus Masters competition, at Queen Elizabeth Stadium in Wan Chai from August 5 to 7, would be Doug Mountjoy, Tony Meo and Terry Griffiths, as well as two local players.
Organiser John Turner, chairman of the Hongkong and Macau Amateur Snooker and Billiards Association, declined to reveal the expenditure behind bringing the overseas players to the colony, saying only: “The overall cost will be similar to that paid out […] to bring Liverpool to play in Hongkong.” The amount involved in bringing the English club earlier the same year was thought to be in excess of HK$600,000.
A competition was staged to decide who would represent Hong Kong. “The final, held late last week, went to Cheung Che-ming with Stanley Leung Shui-choi the runner-up,” reported the Post on June 22.
Speaking to the newspaper before the tournament cued off, Davis said: “We’re all here to win. Under no circumstances will we be easing up. You must remember we all have reputations to consider.”