Snooker officials confirm return of Hong Kong Masters in October, 8 of world’s best to be invited
- World Snooker Tour adds tournament to calendar for event Hong Kong officials say will show city is ‘back for business’
- Local players Marco Fu and Ng On-yee expected to take part in four-day competition at Hong Kong Coliseum
The Hong Kong Masters will be a “mega sporting event” where spectators can get close to the stars of the game if organisers have their way.
Officials announced on Monday that the event had been added to the World Snooker Tour calendar for October, and Vincent Law Wing-chung, chairman of the Hong Kong Billiard Sports Control Council, said an event “without spectators would be pointless”.
In a change to previous years, the tournament will be held in the Hong Kong Coliseum for the first time. The largest indoor stadium in the city, it has a maximum capacity of 10,000.
“I don’t want to be like the track cycling Nations Cup in 2021, where no Hong Kong residents were permitted to approach the cyclists,” Law said.
“We want to make the Hong Kong Masters a mega sporting event, where Hong Kong snooker fans can get close to the star snooker players; otherwise, hosting this Hong Kong Masters without spectators is pointless.”
An official statement posted on the WST website said the tournament was scheduled over four days between October 6 and 9, and Law is targeting some of the world’s best players to take part.
“Inviting the top six players in the world remains our first priority,” he said. “Most likely, we’ll stick with eight players, including [Hong Kong’s] Marco Fu Ka-chun and Ng On-yee.”