Hong Kong tennis siblings double up on success and help contest ace charity drive

Main Hong Kong sports activities stars Jack Wong Hong-kit and his youthful sister Cody Wong Hong-yi teamed up as they each received two titles on the Chinese language Recreation Membership Tennis Open 2023 whereas becoming a member of different gamers in elevating funds for charity.

The siblings defeated Sunny Yue Ching-ho and Nikita Tang Nok-yiu within the blended doubles closing and Cody Wong, 21, was additionally topped women’ singles champion after beating Maggie Ng Man-ying.

But she missed out on a 3rd title, alongside doubles accomplice Wang Chaoyi, once they have been overwhelmed by Ng and Belarus’ Sviatlana Pirazhenka, the reigning women’ doubles champions, within the closing.

Spreading Christmas cheer an open-and-shut case for Hong Kong legislation agency Deacons

Jack Wong, 25, additionally claimed the boys’s doubles title alongside long-time tennis accomplice Kevin Wong Chun-hun after successful in opposition to Ray Lam Wing-lun and Aziz Khan within the closing.

Kevin Wong, 28, additionally doubled up on titles – coming from behind to say his first males’s singles crown on the championships after retiring as an expert tennis participant with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 win over Ethan Leung Yi-hang.

This 12 months’s seventy fifth version of the event hosted by Chinese language Recreation Membership, Hong Kong (CRCHK), which ended final month after six weeks of competitors, noticed gamers as soon as once more serving to to lift cash for kids with each ace served throughout main-draw matches officiated by a chair umpire.

The ultimate whole of 150 aces raised HK$37,500 (US$4,800) because of the membership’s promise to donate HK$250 to learn native underprivileged individuals for each ace served.

Event committee chairman Edmund Ho mentioned that for the fourth 12 months in a row, the membership had chosen to share the funds equally between the Lok Sin Tong Benevolent Society Kowloon and Operation Santa Claus (OSC).

OSC is an annual fundraising initiative organised collectively by the Put up and public broadcaster RTHK.

“The CRC OPEN is greater than only a event – it’s additionally a platform for us to point out the membership’s assist for the group,” he mentioned.

The membership and OSC would additionally proceed to run group and charity campaigns designed to satisfy unfilled gaps in social assist for the underprivileged, equivalent to tennis workshops for ethnic minority teams, Ho added.

Large claw sport helps HKT assist Hong Kong charities

Membership chairman Kenneth Lam Sze-ken mentioned: “We’re very pleased that the CRC Open continues to draw prime native gamers equivalent to Jack Wong and Cody Wong, who represented [Hong Kong] on the Asian Video games, and different elite gamers from throughout the area.

“A few of these home-grown gamers have had long-standing associations with the membership, and nothing offers us extra pleasure than seeing them maximise their potential and shine on the worldwide tennis stage.”

Lam mentioned the contenders have been amongst greater than 1,600 entrants, including that the enthusiastic response “spoke volumes concerning the reputation of the CRC Open amongst elite and social gamers alike”.

“By bringing the native tennis group collectively and providing gamers of various calibres the chance to check and hone their video games, the CRC Open performs a key function in selling the game’s growth, supporting elite sports activities generally and enhancing athletic professionalism throughout town,” he added.

Committee chair Ho mentioned the event was recognized for serving to to develop elite younger gamers, because it was the one occasion among the many three main native tournaments sanctioned by the Hong Kong Tennis Affiliation to supply 14 or beneath junior (14&U) classes.

The membership was additionally growing its dedication to sustainability by reusing many of the tennis balls left in good situation following the event, he added.

Ho mentioned used balls from the matches have been additionally collected as a part of an initiative to transform them into different fuels that decreased the membership’s carbon footprint.

“Recycling tennis balls creates a cleaner and greener Hong Kong, and it makes the sport we love much more stunning,” he mentioned.

Since 1988, OSC has raised HK$369 million to assist the Hong Kong group by 338 charitable tasks.