2018 Hong Kong Squash Open champions Mohamed Elshorbagy, of Egypt, and New Zealand’s Joelle King at the prize presentation. Photo: Handout
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https://scmp.com/sport/hong-kong/article/3032047/2019-hong-kong-squash-open-latest-local-sports-event-fall-victim Hong Kong
2019 Hong Kong Squash Open latest local sports event to fall victim to protests
- The popular tournament, which features the world’s top players, will not be held in 2019 after organisers decided to axe the event after ‘careful consideration’
- It’s only the second time in the event’s long and illustrious history that the event has been canned with the outbreak of SARS in 2003 also disrupting the tournament
The Hong Kong Squash Open has been popular among fans and players. Photo: Edward Wong
The annual Hong Kong Squash Open, a platinum event on the world circuit and voted a favourite among overseas players for many years, has become the latest victim of the city’s social unrest.
The US$352,000 tournament, which features the world’s top 48 players in both the men’s and women’s categories, will not take place this year as Hong Kong continues to be hit by the ongoing anti-government protests which has entered its fourth month.
The Squash Open was supposed to take place at Squash Centre in Admiralty in early December. The semi-finals and finals were to be played in a glass court in West Kowloon Cultural District on December 7-8.
“In view of the current situation, Hong Kong Squash has decided, after careful consideration and extensive discussions with our key stakeholders, to postpone the 2019 tournament,” a spokesman of the organisers said on Tuesday. “We and the Professional Squash Association are in active discussion on identifying a best schedule for staging the event in 2020 before a further announcement can be made.”
The Squash Open men’s event was first played in the city in 1985 and it’s only the second time in the tournament’s history that the event has been cancelled. The last time the event was axed was in 2003 because of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak.
Ramy Ashour (front) and fellow Egyptian Karim Abdel Gawad in action at the 2016 Hong Kong Squash Open. Photo: Dickson Lee
The recent civil unrest has already forced a number of major international events to be scrapped from the local sporting calendar. Just last week, the FIA announced that the Hong Kong E-Prix, scheduled to take place in Central Harbourfront in March, would not be part of the 2020 calendar.
Other major October events that have been cancelled include the WTA Hong Kong Tennis Open, the Hong Kong Cyclothon, that incorporates the Hammer Series that features world tour cycling teams, and golf’s Clearwater Bay Open in Sai Kung.
Hong Kong’s Annie Au was hoping to play in front of her home crowd at the 2019 Squash Open. Photo: Dickson Lee
Cycling’s World Cup track series is scheduled to return at the Hong Kong Velodrome in Tseung Kwan O in November and organisers are closely monitoring the situation.
Hong Kong Cycling Association chairman, Leung Hung-tak, said he had received inquiries from the world governing body (Union Cycliste Internationale) asking whether Hong Kong was safe to stage the event.
Top rider Sarah Lee is hoping to compete in the Hong Kong leg of the World Cup track series in November. Photo: Winson Wong
“The UCI are very concerned about the Hong Kong situation. They are concerned about the safety of the riders, officials and fans given the situation we are in now,” said Leung. “We have read news about the damage that had been done [by protesters] at the Hang Hau and Tseung Kwan O MTR stations over the weekend but we have no plans to switch the venue. We will monitor the situation closely.”
The 2019/2020 World Cup track series is one of the qualifying rounds for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Leung said it would be difficult to stage the event elsewhere given that there is not much time to organise it.
The three-day Hong Kong series is scheduled to kick off on November 29 with Hong Kong’s top rider Sarah Lee Wai-sze featuring in the women’s sprint and keirin, the two events she won gold at the World Championships in Poland earlier this year.