Hangzhou Asian Games deadline arrives but Hong Kong is not ready after Covid-19 closures

Sporting bodies ask for more time after restrictions during fifth wave of pandemic wreak havoc with athletes’ preparations for September showpiece

Hong Kong training facilities only reopened this month, with Olympic Committee asking Games organisers to postpone registration

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The Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Stadium will be the main venue for the 19th Asian Games in China’s coastal city. Photo: AFP

Published: 4:45pm, 27 Apr 2022

It is time to name the athletes for the year’s biggest remaining sporting event on the Asian calendar, but Hong Kong is not ready.

With the city battling a fifth wave of Covid-19 infections, facility closures over the last three months have wreaked havoc with preparations for September’s Asian Games, leaving athletes scrambling to be ready and selectors asking for more time before confirming who will travel to Hangzhou.

The Hong Kong Olympic Committee had previously requested sports associations to submit their list by the end of March, before deciding to conduct the procedures this month, with registration for athletes to close after the first week of May.

“We understand the difficulties faced by many sports when all the facilities were closed over the last three months and as a result they could not get the latest updates on their athletes,” said Wong Po-kee, deputy secretary general of the committee.

“We now plan to conduct the process sometime in early May and have also requested the Hangzhou Games organising committee delay registration until the end of May.”