HONG KONG PLANS NATIONAL GAMES TEST EVENT FOR FENCING AT KAI TAK SPORTS PARK, IF VENUE IS BUILT IN TIME

City's fencing championships slated as one of the test events Hong Kong has vowed to stage before it co-hosts the Games
Hong Kong fencing team still seeking training facilities, having declined government's offer of To Kwa Wan Sports Centre because it is 'too old and too small'

This year's Hong Kong Fencing Championships will be a test event for next year's National Games in the city, provided the new Kai Tak Sports Park is ready to use by November.

The two-day event is scheduled to be held from November 23 to 24, according to the local fencing association. But Antonio Lam Hin-chung, manager of the city's team, said the dates were tentative and there was no backup plan should the HK$30 billion multipurpose sports venue not be fully complete in six months' time.

After delays in its construction, the park has a revised timeline of completion by the end of 2024.

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"I am aware of the suggestions that [the park] will not be ready until early next year," Lam said. "If that's the case, the fencing championships will have to be staged elsewhere.

"It obviously will not be the test event for the National Games should that be the case, but there's no certainty yet."

Last month, Yeung Tak-keung, who leads the city's National Games Coordination Office, told the Post that test events would be held in Hong Kong venues "six to 12 months" before the Games, with "no exceptions".

"If KTSP is not ready by the fencing championships, we will need another test event for sure," Lam said.

"I'd expect things to be clearer around summer time, and we'll have a better picture of whether the next Hong Kong Open can be held at KTSP."

KTSP had yet to respond to the Post's request for comment.

Lam also confirmed the association had at the turn of the year declined a government proposal to use To Kwa Wan Sports Centre, which opened in 1987, as a temporary fencing facility.

In his annual Policy Address last October, the city's leader John Lee Ka-chiu announced plans for facilities for swimming and fencing, and Lam said the association would be happy with a temporary facility given that a new venue would take years to build.

"But first things first, [it] has to be suitable for redevelopment," former fencer Lam said. "The facility offered is just too old and too small for any redevelopment plan.

"To Kwa Wan has held some local club-level tournaments before and can accommodate around 20 pistes, but any association-sanctioned tournaments would require in excess of 20 pistes, and then we need space for the audience."

Lam said there was no news on finding another temporary facility, but there had been constant discussion with lawmaker Vincent Cheng Wing-shun as well as Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Kevin Yeung Yun-hung.

In January, Lam said he hoped the new fencing venue promised could double the present space for training, currently capped at 13 to 14 pistes at Hong Kong Sports Institute.

He suggested a seating capacity of 5,000 was needed to stage international events such as the World Championship, which Hong Kong is to host in 2026.

Separately, Hong Kong's world No 1 epeeist Vivian Kong Man-wai was ousted in the round of 32 at the Grand Prix event in Cali on Saturday, losing 15-11 to Federica Isola of Italy.

Kaylin Hsieh Sin-yan lost in the round of 64, going down 9-8 against France's Josephine Jacques-Andre-Coquin. In the men's event, the Olympics-bound Ho Wai-hang lost 15-13 to eventual winner Koki Kano in the round of 64 on Friday.