Tokyo 2020: Hong Kong stars Sarah Lee, Siobhan Haughey and Vivian Kong share their hopes

There is no getting around the fact that the Summer Olympics in Tokyo are going to dominate the global sporting landscape for 2020.

That’s no different for Hong Kong, with several of the city’s star athletes holding medal hopes.

Here they share their dreams for the next 12 months, as do other well-known faces from Hong Kong’s sports scene.

So what do Hong Kong athletes want from 2020?

Sarah Lee Wai-sze, track cyclist, women’s sprint and keirin reigning world champion

“Setting sights on the Olympics; Planning for the Olympics.”

Vivian Kong Man-wai, fencer, women’s épée world number one

“I hope 2020 will be a healthy, happy, lucky and lovely one for all.”

Siobhan Haughey, swimmer, 4th in the women’s 200m freestyle at 2019 world championships

“2020 is a very important year to me. The Olympics is obviously the main goal and I want to swim well and perform my best. But leading up to it I also want to enjoy what I am doing, like travelling around the world for swim meets, while also putting in the hard work.”

Shek Wai-hung, gymnast, 2019 double World Challenge Cup winner

“There will be the Olympic Games in Tokyo which will be my biggest target. I won’t think too much about medals at this stage, just work hard to get myself well prepared for the Games and most of all fully showcase my potential in the vault through some stable and consistent performances.”

Cecilia Yeung Man-wai, Hong Kong high jump record holder

“Happy to return to the field after recovering from an Achilles tendon injury. Of course, my biggest hope for 2020 will be getting back to top form and making it to the Olympic Games through hitting the qualification standard. No doubt about it.”

Yapp Hung-fai, footballer, Hong Kong team goalkeeper

“I want to see some solid performances from my team Eastern as we are challenging for different trophies in the Premier League. Hopefully, we can have at least one at the end of the 2020 season. For the Hong Kong representative team, Hong Kong lag behind many of our Asian counterparts on the international stage, especially in terms of physical power and speed. We still have three matches in the World Cup qualifiers and must lift our standard to stay competitive. This will not be easy but we have to believe in ourselves and do whatever the best we can to prepare for these three games.”

Pui Kwan-kay, chairman, Hong Kong Football Association

“We hope the general political situation can return to normal in 2020, providing a more stable environment for the people of Hong Kong and sports so we can start planning to bring overseas teams to Hong Kong for exhibition matches in the summer. The Hong Kong representative team will play the three remaining matches in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers next year and hopefully we can achieve some pleasant surprises.”

Leung Hung-tak, chairman, Hong Kong Cycling Association

“Other than our Olympic medal hopeful, Sarah Lee, we also want to see other cyclists do well in their qualification campaigns for the 2020 Olympic Games, such as men’s Madison pair of Cheung King-lok and Leung Chun-wing and the women’s Madison trio of Yang Qianyu, Pang Yao and Leung Po-yee. Lee will be the rider to watch on the track in Tokyo and the most important thing is how she releases her pressure and performs after a disappointing Olympic run in Rio. Also, we hope up-and-coming Lee Sze-wing can continue her progress on the international stage and become a force to be reckoned with in her senior career.”

Tony Choi Yuk-kwan, deputy chief executive, Hong Kong Sports Institute

“We want to see some breakthrough of Hong Kong athletes at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Also, the Sports Institute is expanding its support to our elite athletes through the construction of some new facilities. We hope we can get government funding with the approval of the Legislative Council for the financial support of these new developments.”

Chan Kong-wah, head table tennis coach, Hong Kong Sports Institute

“The Tokyo Olympics is not only a challenge to the athletes but also their coaches. It has been a long time since we last captured a silver medal, at the 2004 Athens Games through our men’s doubles pair and we are under pressure to perform again. Colour of the Olympic medal is not our biggest concern, but we have to bag at least a medal. Our men’s and women’s teams will be competing in the world qualifying tournament in Portugal early in the year and they need some good results to book the ticket to Tokyo. We hope everything will go according to our plan in 2020, making every Hong Kong citizen happy through our performances in the international arena.”

Ng On-yee, snooker player

“We had the very first international ladies invitation event in Hong Kong last October. Hopefully this will become an annual event. Here’s wishing all Hong Kong Olympians luck and great success, while keeping my hopes for snooker to return into the main events, like the Asian Games, soon.”