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Lars Hamer

Music pumping from the DJ, families basking under the sun and spectators enjoying cold beers while the final of the ITF Beach Tennis World Tour Hong Kong unfolded gave Discovery Bay’s Tai Pak beach a new feel on Sunday.
It was the first time Hong Kong had hosted an ITF beach tennis tournament and hundreds of people were drawn to the event, which started on Friday.
Arnault Brac de la Perriere, unofficially the city’s leading player, was responsible for bringing the BT10- and BT50-level events to the city.
The Hong Kong resident hails from the Indian Ocean island of Reunion, where beach tennis is the national sport and home to the Sand Series Reunion Classic Tournament, a grand slam event.
Now, Brac de la Perriere has set his sights on giving the city its own grand slam, something he said was achievable in the next few years.
“The road map is quite clear,” he said. “We need at least two years of solid BT100, BT200 and potentially BT400 events.
“There are a lot of facilities that we need but I was part of the organisation of the grand slam in Reunion, so I know what we have to do.”

As the Hong Kong tournament’s main organiser, Brac de la Perriere brought on sponsors such as Decathlon and Sichuan Airlines. Working with a team of 30 volunteers, he said another tournament was planned for November and he wanted to stage the biggest beach tennis event in Asia in 2026.
“In Reunion, you’ll have 20 courts and a stadium for 2,000 people built on the beach. That’s the target here in Hong Kong,” he said. “It’s like rugby sevens for tennis. We have beers, the stadium and a big party on the beach with the best players in the world.”
Beach tennis has similar rules to regular tennis. Points go from 15, 30 to 40, but there is no advantage, so the next point wins on deuce. Tournament matches are played in doubles and the best of three sets wins, with six games needed to win a set.
The weekend’s event was an accumulation of three years of planning that eventually came together six weeks ago when Brac de la Perriere got the go-ahead from the Hong Kong, China Tennis Association.
Hong Kong’s leg of the world tour attracted more than 150 competitors from 28 countries – a record for an ITF beach tennis tournament.
Japan’s Eri Homma, who won the women’s doubles tournament with partner Erina Otsuka, was pleasantly surprised that “it was so well organised”, given it was a first for Hong Kong.
“Hong Kong is a great location for the sport,” Brac de la Perriere said. “DB [Discovery Bay] is a good beach because there’s space and it’s a private beach, so you can rent it and control the environment.”
Maksimilians Niklass Andersons from Latvia and his partner, Sergey Gvardeitsev from Malta, won the men’s event.
Brac de la Perriere said in the future, Victoria Park, which will have sand brought in so it can host the beach volleyball competitions at this year’s National Games, could be used as a venue.
“It [beach tennis] can really grow fast – in six weeks we got people coming from all over the world,” Brac de la Perriere said. “We have the world No 35 and 88, and everyone is really keen to come over.”


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Latvia’s Maksimilians Niklass Andersons (left) and Malta’s Sergey Gvardeitsev winning the men’s doubles final of Beach Tennis Hong Kong at Discovery Bay. Photo: Sun Yeung

Japan’s Eri Homma (left) and Erina Otsuka take out the women’s doubles title. Photo: Sun Yeung

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Nikarat Wateenukit (in black) returns the ball to Junko Nagata during Beach Tennis World Tour Hong Kong at Discovery Bay on Friday. Photo: Edmond So

Arnault Brac de la Perriere on court at Beach Tennis World Tour Hong Kong in Discovery Bay. Photo: Edmond So

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Sport

Tennis

City’s first tournament in Discovery Bay attracts record number of competitors for an ITF event


City’s first tournament in Discovery Bay attracts record number of competitors for an ITF event.


Hong Kong organisers eye beach tennis grand slam event and 2,000-seat arena for 2026

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}City’s first tournament in Discovery Bay attracts record number of competitors for an ITF event

City’s first tournament in Discovery Bay attracts record number of competitors for an ITF event