Hong Kong Badminton Championship has been rounded up successfully

The annual Hong Kong Badminton Mega Event – YONEX-SUNRISE Hong Kong Badminton Championships 2016, part of the MetLife BWF World Superseries has been rounded up successfully on 27th November. 20 thousands of fans gathered at this spectacular badminton competition which contain 260 players from 22 countries and districts. Hong Kong Team has obtained 1 gold and 3 bronze medals, the best ever record in this event. Organizer is grateful about the support from sponsors and all the fans!

The event has received tremendous support from the officiating guests, including: the Honourable Mrs Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, Chief Secretary for Administration, The Government of the HKSAR, Dr. Tong Yun Kai, President of HKBA, Mr. Poul Erik Hoyer, President of BWF, Mr. Zhu Wen, Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Mr. William Ko, Chairman of Major Sports Events Committee, Mr. Tong Wai Lun, BBS, MH, JP, Chairman of HKBA, Mr Harinder Garga, District Director, Sunrise & Company Pte Limited, Mr Lee Wood, CEO, MetLife Limited. Other guests included Mr. Lau Kong-wah, JP, Secretary for Home Affairs, The Government of the HKSAR, Ms Vivien Lau, BBS, JP, Vice-President, Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong China, Ms Michelle LI Mei-sheung, JP, Director of Leisure and Cultural Services, Ms. Petty Lai, PAS(RS), Recreation and Sport Division, Home Affairs Bureau, and President of Thailand Badminton Association.

At the opening ceremony, the Hong Kong Wheelchair Dance Association was invited to perform the wheelchair dance with the team leader and coach Ms. Wong Wai King and Mr. Lee Wai Lun. The 6 instructors led 6 wheelchair dancers to dance with music and perform Latin dance, Waltz, Tango and so on. Special seating arrangement was made for the dancers after their performance so that they can enjoy the badminton competition with the spectators to uphold the spirit of an inclusive and harmonious community.

Local teenager has a chance to get close to the top players at the ‘International Star Players Community Demonstration and Fun Day’ on 26th November morning. 7 top players including: Hong Kong’s Lee Cheuk Yiu, Or Chin Chung, Huang Yuxiang, Zheng Siwei, Huang Yaqiong of China Team and Malaysian Men’s Doubles Tan Wee Kiong, Goh Wei Shem have joined the event at the Hong Kong Coliseum. They have demonstrated their skills in Singles and Doubles and have friendly matches with over 200 students and parents of local secondary and primary schools. The event was finished in laughter and applause which has shown badminton is a fun game.

This was a successful community demonstration. Besides the superb skills of the star players, all the students have a chance to play against the star players. The players were amazed by the students’ skill and have spent a lot of strength after the friendly matches. After the demonstrations, an autograph session was arranged. Although it was drizzling, many fans were lining up at the 4 long tables outside of the Coliseum. Each player has their own fans. In addition to autograph, they can also take photos with their favorite players. All the players were very cordial, especially the Chinese team. The Malaysian coach has also given out the breaking news: the Olympic silver medalist Tan Wee Kiong, Goh Wei Shem who have been training with him since childhood, have decided to participate in the Tokyo Olympic Games and have started their preparation.

After the Hong Kong Open, the organizer have to follow up the post event work and also  work on the proposal submission of the bid for 2018 to 2021 World Superseries to BWF within one month. Other than this, lots of works are lining up, including the Hong Kong Doubles League in January with 530 teams and 6000 participants, the training programs with almost a thousand participants such as Young Athletes Training Scheme, Star Badges Exams, the family fun day, Inter-school competitions (over 1,500 participants), Hong Kong Championship (over 2,500 participants), summer courses (nearly 2,000 participants), Junior Championships (over 1,600) and the President’s Cup (nearly 2,000 people) and many more.

2017 is coming. We wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Let us work together to create a better tomorrow!

（Please click to watch the highlights of YONEX-SUNRISE Hong Kong Badminton Championships 2016）