Youngsters score soccer world record

Hong Kong entered the Guinness Book of Records yesterday when children passed a football 557 times continuously, albeit after one false start.

Two Guinness Book of Records representatives travelled to the SAR to verify the feat at Tsing Yi.

More than 1,000 children, aged eight to 14, attended the 'Set Your Own Record' event organised by McDonald's at Tsing Yi Sports Ground.

The event required the children, standing 12 metres apart, to pass the ball to one another without a break. The event started at 2.45pm, with the first pass being made by 11-year-old Ng Chi-ngai.

The sequence went smoothly until 3.30pm when the 250th child, obviously nervous, failed to pass the ball to the next in line, forcing them to start again.

In the second attempt, the children achieved the target of 500 passes required for a record and made it to 557 passes at 5.20pm.

Chi-ngai said he would be supporting China in the World Cup and would stay up to watch as many games as possible.