Sports Stars Awards presentation postponed as epidemic continues to blight Hong Kong sport
- Organisers will not risk exposing over 100 table guests, including Hong Kong’s leading athletes, ahead of 2020 Tokyo Olympics
- Snooker queen Ng On-yee and track cycling star Sarah Lee lead public voting
Public voting for the annual Hong Kong Sports Stars Awards ended at the weekend, but the March presentation ceremony is to be postponed as the coronavirus epidemic continues to hit the domestic sports agenda.
A new date in May is being worked out, according to chairman of the organising committee of the awards, Vivien Lau Chiang-chu. The presentation was to take place at the Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai on March 24.
“There is little we can do as the entire city is still battling the new coronavirus,” Lau said. “The awards presentation involves more than a hundred tables with the presence of all Hong Kong’s leading athletes and other prominent guests. We can’t take the risk of anything happening that may affect our medal chance in the Olympic Games in Tokyo, which is not far away.
“We are now trying to fix a new date in May. Hopefully by that time the high point of the epidemic will have gone and everyone can enjoy a safe environment to recognise the performance of our athletes in 2019.”
Lau said if the epidemic situation continued and May was still not possible, they might have to move the gala event to another date later in the year, possibly even after the Tokyo Games.