Hong Kong Tennis Association Room 1021, Olympic House, 1 Stadium Path, So Kon Po, Causeway Bay, HK Tel: (852) 2504 8266 Fax: (852) 2894 8704 www.tennishk.org by: www.linkupdesign.com produced Hong Kong Tennis Association Council 2013 Life Patron Dr. Stanley HO, GBM, GBS Honorary Patron The Hon. Ronald ARCULLI, GBM, CVO, GBS, OBE, J.P. Patron Contents Mr. F. K. HU, GBS, CBE, J.P. Structure of HKTA President 1 Mr. Vincent LIANG, J.P. 2 Committee Chairpersons 2013 Honorary Secretary 3 Highlights of the Year Mr. Michael CHENG 5 Report from the President Honorary Treasurer Mr. Clement LEE Administration & Corporate Affairs 8 Executive Committee Vice Presidents Dr. David HO 11 Membership & Corporate Affairs Committee Mr. Philip MOK Dr. Joseph WONG Development Councillors 15 Player Development Committee Mr. Andrew John BROTHERS Mr. Jimmy CHANG Professional Development Mr. Mathew CHENG 25 Coaches Development and Qualifications Committee Mr. Ronnie CHENG Mr. Herbert CHOW 28 Education & Careers Committee Mr. Oscar CHOW Dr. Philip KWOK (HKTF) Tournaments Mr. LAM Siu Wai 29 Tournament Committee The Hon. Mr. Justice Andrew MACRAE Mr. Gary SZE 56 Officiating Committee Dr. Jaime SIN Tan Mr. Benson WONG League Executive Director 59 League Management Committee Mr. Bally BANG Auditors 65 Our Sponsors & Supporters HLB Hodgson Impey Cheng Limited Hon. Legal Advisor Lo and Lo Hong Kong Tennis Association Room 1021, Olympic House, 1 Stadium Path, So Kon Po, Causeway Bay, H.K. Tel: (852) 2504 8266 Fax: (852) 2894 8704 http://www.tennishk.org Designed by: Link-Up Design Ltd. www.linkupdesign.com This Annual Report covers the period 1 December 2012 – 30 November 2013. Hong Kong Tennis Association • Annual Report 2013 Sports Federation & Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China Community Affiliated & Tennis Clubs League Clubs Council Executive Committee Coaches Player Development Committee Development Education League Membership & Finance Officiating Tournament and & Careers Management Corporate Affairs • Committee Committee Scholarship and Grants Committee Qualifications Committee Committee Committee Sub-Committee Committee 1 Hong Kong Tennis Association • Annual Report 2013 Committee Chairpersons 2013 Executive Committee Coaches Development and Player Development Committee Mr. Vincent LIANG, J.P. Qualifications Committee Mr. Andrew John BROTHERS Mr. Jimmy CHANG Education & Careers Finance Committee League Management Committee Mr. Clement LEE Committee Dr. Joseph WONG Mr. Philip MOK Membership & Corporate Officiating Committee Tournament Committee Affairs Committee Dr. David HO Mr. Herbert CHOW Mr. Oscar CHOW 2 Hong Kong Tennis Association • Annual Report 2013 Highlights of the Year • Zhang Ling reached the final of the Asian Championships Singles event and Zhang Ling and Katherine Ip advanced to the doubles semi-finals, scoring Hong Kong valuable points to apply for Eilte Sport Status. • HKTA hosted 4 ITF Women’s Circuit Tournaments (three 10K & one 25K level) in December 2013 & January 2014. Hong Kong players earned valuable ATP & WTA ranking • The Hong Kong Davis Cup Team was points at the 3 ITF Men’s Futures and 2 ITF promoted to Asia/Oceania Group II after Women’s Circuit Events in December 2012 finishing in second place at the Asia/ and January 2013. Oceania Group III competition in Dubai in September. • Zhang Ling won 2 consecutive ITF Women’s • HKTA confirmed Hong Kong’s first tournament Circuit US$15,000 tournaments in Phuket on the official ATP or WTA circuit in 12 years in November. Katherine Ip won the US$10,000 with the announcement of the WTA Hong ITF title in New Dehli in August. Kong Tennis Open which will be held from • Hong Kong’s Men’s and Women’s teams September 8-14th 2014 at Victoria Park. both finished in 8th place at the All China A launch party was held on November 20th Games Team Competition in June. attended by business leaders, players & VIPs from the tennis world, Government Officials • In 2013, Hong Kong had 31 ITF ranked juniors, and media to officially introduce the 4 WTA and 2 ATP ranked players. tournament to the world. 3 Hong Kong Tennis Association • Annual Report 2013 Highlights of the Year • Katherine Ip reached a career high ITF Junior Future Tennis Aces Tournament during the ranking of 35, and played in all 4 junior French Open at Roland Garros in June. Grand Slam Tournaments during the year. Brian Yeung reached the second round of • Eudice Chong claimed both the singles singles and the doubles quarterfinals at and doubles titles at the Hong Kong ITF the Australian Open Boys Events. Junior Tennis G4 Tournament in January. Andrew Li and Tommy Lam won the boys • HKTA President Vincent Liang was elected doubles title. as a member of the Asian Tennis Federation Seniors Committee. • Eudice Chong and Katherine Ip were runners up in the girls doubles event at The Oriental • HKTA attended a WTA Summit and Tournament Watch Group Hong Kong Open Junior Director Orientation in Beijing during the Championships 2013 in October. Claire China Open. Spackman reached the girls singles semi finals, whilst over 80 Hong Kong and • With the re-opening of the tennis courts overseas junior players battled for precious at HKSI, a new elite training programme world ranking points. named the “Hong Kong Team” was launched in September 2013 and run by a professional coaching team, led by world renowned coach Alan Ma. 30 players were selected to join the programme. • Hong Kong’s Gary Au Yeung obtained ITF Gold Badge Referee certification. • An ITF coaching course was conducted by ITF representative Karl Davis for coaches in April. • Zhang Ling was awarded a Panasonic • The Hong Kong Boys and Girls Teams Sports Scholarship Programme 2013-2014 finished sixth and seventh respectively out from the Sports Federation and Olympic of 16 teams in the playoffs of the 2013 Committee of Hong Kong and the Shun Junior Davis Cup and Junior Fed Cup Hing Group. Asia/Oceania Final Qualifying tournament in Gimcheon, South Korea. • Stephen Wong won the Hong Kong Selection tournament and represented • HKTA Recorded a surplus of over HK$1.8 Hong Kong to participate in the Longines million for the year ended 31st March 2013. 4 Hong Kong Tennis Association • Annual Report 2013 Report from the President not have hosted a professional event on the official men’s ATP or women’s WTA Tours in 12 years, after the ATP Salem Open left the region after its 2002 event. The tournament will see some of the world's best female players compete for USD250,000 prize money at Victoria Park Tennis Stadium from September 8 - 14, 2014 and will be a treat for tennis fans in the region. The hosting of a WTA tournament and the return of elite professional tennis will have a positive impact at all levels of the sport and in the community. Not only will it serve as an inspiration to young players looking to represent This is my second annual report as President of the Hong Hong Kong at an elite level, it will also encourage players Kong Tennis Association and during the past year there have young and old to pick up a racquet and play, boosting been an exciting number of developments. You can read the popularity of tennis in the region and promoting about these from the reports of our various committees in participation in our grass roots and other development the following pages, but I would like to highlight some of programmes. the notable happenings in the past year. Of course the tournament will also provide our top players Hong Kong Tennis Open with the opportunity to compete on the world stage and with some of the best players in the world. We look forward This year we continued with our commitment to bring to our top ITF ranked junior players as well as our WTA more world class tournaments to Hong Kong and enable ranked players, including Zhang Ling, Katherine Ip and our players to compete on the world stage. HKTA has Tiffany Wu to experience competition with the world’s best. been working proactively with the Government to bring a HKTA believes we will have a top 100 player within the next tournament on the top tier professional tour back to Hong few years, and the Hong Kong Tennis Open will serve as an Kong and I am pleased to confirm that with a grant from inspiration for our players to reach this goal. the HK Government, the Hong Kong Tennis Association is now the proud owner of a WTA International Event, the ITF Women’s Pro Circuit Hong Kong Tennis Open. By the time of the inaugural Hong Kong Tennis Open in September next year, Hong Kong will After the success of the 3 ITF Men’s Futures and 2 ITF Women’s Circuit tournaments in December 2012 & January 2013, the Council decided to hold 3 Women’s ITF USD 10,000 5 Hong Kong Tennis Association • Annual Report 2013 our top players and juniors coming to practice and play tournaments on this surface in Hong Kong so that they are prepared for tournaments overseas. Upgrading of HKTA Website The re-development project of the HKTA website commenced during the summer and will feature a totally new look and many additional functions for members and tennis fans and players. I look forward to the unveiling of the revamped site in early 2014. tournaments in December this year and one USD 25,000 tournament in January 2014 at Victoria Park. With the hosting Davis Cup Promotion of a higher level 25K event we are expecting some higher ranked players, including some in the top 200 to compete. I am pleased to report that Our Davis Cup Team, consisting In addition to our top players who will receive direct entry, of Philip King, Ognian Kolev, Andrew Li and Tommy Lam and our local players will have the privilege of getting wild cards captained by Chris Lai have achieved promotion back into to enter these events and the possibility of earning some the Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group II after finishing in second international ranking points, whilst getting professional in the Group III competiton in September.