National Games: Hong Kong basketball captain says team ‘ready to go’ against Shanghai
New skipper Ivan Yang says team have prepared well and, although underdogs, are looking forward to playing before a home crowd
Newly installed team captain Ivan Yang Bo-wen said he was “excited, pumped and thrilled” ahead of his men’s under-22 basketball clash with Shanghai at the National Games on Tuesday.
Hong Kong open their home tournament against one of the two stronger opponents in the group – Beijing being the other – at the Coliseum, but star forward Yang said he did not feel nervous.
“We’ve been prepping for so long, since the end of May, and in July we went to Beijing and Xinjiang for two weeks of lockdown training camp,” said the forward, who plays for local A1 Division team Hong Kong Eastern.
“We had practice sessions every day and also a couple of friendly games against some of the Beijing and Xinjiang universities, so we know what our competition will be like.
“I feel excited, I’m pumped and thrilled to represent Hong Kong and eight million people to play at one of the – if not the – highest stages of sports competition in China.”
Making it out of the group stage to reach the quarter-finals on home soil remained the target of the team. The coaching staff have done their scouting, and the players have been watching films of their opponents.