Hong Kong athletics stars to test the waters in regional championships ahead of Asian Games
- Hong Kong sending squad of 20 to this week’s Asian Athletics Championships in Bangkok, where they will rub shoulders with region’s best
- Hurdler Vera Lui, and long jumpers Chan Ming-tai, Ko Ho-long and Tiffany Yue – along with men’s and women’s 4x100m relay teams – all vying for medals
Hong Kong will send a squad of 20 to this week’s Asian Athletics Championships in Bangkok, testing the city’s medalling potential in the biggest regional competition ahead of September’s Asian Games in Hangzhou.
Most of the team members will be part of the squad for the multi-sport Games, pending approval from the local Olympic committee.
“This is a prelude to the Hangzhou Games because all teams are eager to gauge their progress with slightly more than two months to go,” Simon Yeung Sai-mo, senior vice-chairman of the Association of Athletics Affiliates, said.
The Thailand event will serve as a qualifier for next month’s World Championships in Budapest, with the event winners set to automatically book their tickets.
“We understand the likes of China and Japan are sending their top athletes,” Yeung said, indicating that the lure of places in Budapest for the region’s powerhouses would make the Bangkok showpiece more competitive.
Among the Hong Kong squad, hurdler Vera Lui Lai-yiu will be eager to prove herself after finishing fourth in the women’s 100-metre hurdles at the most recent Asian Championships in Doha in 2019. The 2021 edition in Hangzhou was scrapped because of coronavirus pandemic restrictions in China.
