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World Snooker
SportHong Kong

Hong Kong’s Ng On-yee and Marco Fu to miss British Open while organisers confirm ‘major blow’ to Chinese event return

  • WPBSA chairman Ferguson confirms Ng and Fu’s ‘problematic’ UK hold-up ‘purely down to travel’
  • Chinese government refuses to host international events ‘until after the Winter Olympics’

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Ng On-yee in the final against Cheung Yee-ting at the Hong Kong women’s snooker tournament at the Legend Snooker Club in Cheung Sha Wan in 2020. Photo: SCMP/ Jonathan Wong
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Ng On-yee and Marco Fu Ka-chun will miss the upcoming British Open but snooker’s world governing body insists it is working to ensure the Hong Kong pair can compete in the remaining events of the tour.
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Official World Governing Body of Snooker and Billiards (WPBSA) chairman Jason Ferguson said he was “disappointed” that events such as the debuting Turkish Masters were forced to be postponed due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, while a return to China is still up in the air.

“It’s purely down to travel. The travel is just so difficult for them, and not just getting [to the UK]. We think we can get them here but realistically they’ll be staying here for months at a time and getting back home is going to be problematic,” Ferguson told Metro.

“Until things clear a little bit the Hong Kong Sports Institute (HKSI) have said, ‘Our advice is don’t go at this moment in time’. We’ll work hard with the players and the HKSI to get them here.”
Marco Fu Ka-chun of Hong Kong at the Coral World Grand Prix against Ronnie O'Sullivan in 2019. Photo: Handout
Marco Fu Ka-chun of Hong Kong at the Coral World Grand Prix against Ronnie O'Sullivan in 2019. Photo: Handout
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World No 2 Ng was forced to pull out of the Championship League in July – what would have been her pro debut and a duel with the legendary Ronnie O’Sullivan – due to Covid-19 concerns. Meanwhile, Fu has not played since returning to Hong Kong from the Welsh Open in February 2020.

Ferguson, who also confirmed Chinese superstar Ding Junhui would miss out having returned home after being “without his wife and daughter for a long, long time” on tour in the UK, was not optimistic in organising a competitive China return for the first time since the 2019 World Open.

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