FIVB Volleyball Women’s Nations League: Hong Kong targets test tournament at Kai Tak Sports Park ahead of 2025 event
- City’s newest sports venue is expected to be ready to host competitions in around 18 months
- Test tournament could feature teams from around the region, including China, Japan and Thailand
Hong Kong volleyball officials hope to stage an invitational event at the city’s new Kai Tak Sports Park next year in a bid to convince the game’s global governing body to bring the Women’s Nations League back in 2025.
Days after this month’s tournament finished at Hong Kong Coliseum, Wilfred Ng Sau-kei, president of the city’s volleyball association, outlined plans for a four or eight-team competition after the Paris Olympics.
Ng said it was obvious that after the park was built that any future volleyball event would be staged there, so hosting an event made sense for two reasons.
“So, it is not only for us to gauge what it is like to host an event there, but also a demonstration to FIVB [the game’s governing body] of our new venue.”
The association boss said he would like to invite teams from around the region to play in the tournament, but numbers would depend on how big his budget was because “we usually have to cover the air tickets of any visiting teams as the host”.
China are presently ranked fourth in the world, while Japan and Thailand, both listed among the top 15, are the strongest sides in the region. While Korea, Kazakhstan, Vietnam and Indonesia are also considered to have strong teams.