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 HONG KONG EN BREF ... Issue #4
Everything you never knew you needed to know
about the HK Open
from Steve Cubbins |
SQUASH TO THE PEOPLE
When I spoke to David Mui, Chairman of HK Squash, just before
we moved to the glass court in Hollywood Plaza a recurring theme was
"bringing squash to the people".
Bringing squash to the people?
 Here
in Hong Kong we believe we are the most innovative association in sports
marketing, not the best, but the most innovative. Our idea is to bring
squash to the people rather than having them coming to the squash.
We're targeting people who have never seen or played before. You need a
way of getting to your target market, the general public, so the
Hollywood Plaza shopping mall, with thousands of people passing through
every hour, is an ideal place for that. We have 500 seats and they're
all sold, but there's room for many more on the balconies all around the
court.
Where did you get the idea from?
During the football world cup they set up big screens in some of the
malls and it attracted massive crowds, so we thought let's put squash in
that position, put in in front of many people who have never encountered
it before. The big LCD screen will allow everyone in the area to have a
great view of the squash.
It's not just the main matches though, is it?
No, we're adding other events around it. We have Peter Nicol, who will
play an exhibition with a local celebrity, and we'll have the winners in
the Miss Hong Kong pageant there too.
We have a team of volunteers, mainly players in our junior programme,
who will be there acting as ambassadors for the game, explaining the
game to the general public, handing out literature about the tournament,
and showing themhow they can get involved should they want to.
And it's a brand new court, isn't it?
Yes, a five-sided glass ASB court, which has been donated by the Hong
Kong Jockey Club, who provided our original perspex court some years
ago, so we're very grateful to them.
Five-sided?
It has the new glass floor that went down so well for the women's
event in India, but it's a newer version, lighter, and it allows better
visibility of the logos, sponsors names, or whatever we want to put
underneath it.
How has publicity for the event gone?
Well,apart from live coverage on TVB, Hong Kong'smost popular TV
station, we've had advertisements and features on both English and
Chinese channels - they even brought a crew of 20 people to the
sponsorship signing ceremony - and coverage in the newspapers has been
very good.
And you play yourself, of course?
Yes, I started playing at the age of 28, and I play in division six of
our league, and in the Masters events.
Errr ... division six?
We have 21 divisions in the league,with 3,000 active players and three
levels of masters. I've been the most improved player in each age group
since I took up the Masters.
You have plenty of players in the pipeline then?
The aim is to produce world class players, of course. We're especially
proud of our junior girls team, who are world champions. We have a
junior training programme with over 1,000 players in regional training
centres, we aim to bring them up through a pyramid system.
You seem to do well for sponsors?
Cathay Pacific have been with us for over 20 years, they feel we've done
a good job and it's something worth supporting - as a commercial company
they wouldn't throw money away, so they feel it's worth supporting.
We also have Swiss Privilege, Fotomax, Hollywood Plaza, Crocodile,
Buler, all reputable public listed companies. We're very grateful for
their support, and we have a couple more who may come on board in the
near future.
If you have a good product, which we hve,you have to market it and let
everyone know about it, and more attention will mean more sponsors.
Are more events planned?
We have two sattelite tournaments,the Buler and Crocodile events, so
that regional players can come and get a chance to play PSA and WISPA
tournaments, and gain more experience in this region, and we'll continue
with those and hope to add more.
And the Asian Games coming up, of course?
Rebecca is the defending champion, we're hoping she will get to the
final and let's see what happens if she plays Nicol.
There are only singles events this time, but in China 2010 we're
hopefully that there will be more events, we want to give our players
chances to win more than one medal. Squash has been accepted for the
East Asian Games in 2009 which will give it another boost in the area.
We're working very closely with the Chinese squash association, and I'm
confident squash will take off there soon, it's a sleeping giant as far
as squash is concerned.
During the semi-finals David was on the front row with Herman Hu,
Chairman of the Major Sports Events Committee [see
interview]. "I told you it would be good," he said.
And you know what, he couldn't be more right ...
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HONG KONG EN BREF ... Issue #3
Everything you never knew you needed to know
about the HK Open |
UP
TO THE PEAK
Three things you immediately notice about Hong Kong: It's built on a
hill, the transport infrastructure is fantastic, and space is at a
premium.
The "Peak Tram" which runs from just outside the Squash Centre
demonstrates all three of these features in one compact package.
Operating since 1888, it's a funicular railway that take you 400 metres
up in less than ten minutes, terminating in the middle of a brand
spanking shopping / amusement centre.
A further ten sets of escalators takes you up to the viewing gallery
where, on a clear day (apparently) you can see for miles.
As you can see, it was a little misty when I reached the summit, but
well worth the trip, that's for sure ...
Try the Slideshow
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MEET
THE CHAIRMAN
A squash fan and avid player of all racket sports, he started playing
squash at Harvard in 1984 while he was at school over in New England.
Herman Hu is Chairman of the Hong Kong Sports Commision's Major
Sports Events Committee, a body charged with bringing world class
sporting events to Hong Kong. We had a chat on "upset Friday" while all
the mayhem was going on at the Squash Centre ...
Please explain the Sports Commission?
It was set up in 2004 as a replacement for the Sports Development Board,
which was charged to develop sports and elite athletes but didn't have
enough money or the mandate to cover grass roots sport, so the
government cancelled it and set up the commission.
 There
are three boards, Elite, Community and Major Events, we work with all
sports organisations to bring world class events to Hong Kong. We are a
Commission of 13 volunteers who meet 4 to 6 times a year. We have no
real staffing, but we advise the Secretary of Home Affairs who in turn
has access to funding and 9,000 administrators who can help with any
project.
What type of sports do you target?
All sports, but we want to develop events that will stay in Hong Kong
and have the viability to stand on their own two feet. We're not
interested in exhibitions where you bring big stars over for a one-off
show, we're planning for the long-term.
That must be expensive?
Yes, you need a lot of seed money, which we give to the National Sports
Associations to help them develop their events and attract commercial
sponsorship to make them viable for the future, like established events
such as the Hong Kong Sevens and the Hong Kong Marathon.
So squash is an important sport for you?
Definitely. Squash is very much part of Hong Kong, with 700 courts and
support from many Hong Kong people, many executives play, it's a good
game for them.
HK Squash wanted to bring the World Open here in 2005 and we supported
them in that, and it was a great success with a wonderful setting and
live pictures beamed onto the wall of the Cultural Centre, a 10-story
building, so that people could see from far away.
This year it's being taken to a shopping mall, which is very much part
of our idea of bringing sport to the people. For example, next week
there's a Beach Festival with some of the world's best Beach Volleyball
and Beach Handball teams competing in a world sanctioned event, and
we're building a man-made beach right in the centre to bring that to the
people.
Are you pleased with the Hong Kong Squash Open?
Very pleased, it's government money well spent in bringing all the top
players here and bringing in a big crowd like tonight and a bigger one
at the weekend in the mall.
I have to compliment David and his team for being innovative in bringing
the sport to the people, as in last year's World Open which we were very
impressed with. Many sports envy squash, which can bring a court into
many impressive locations, you can't do that with a tennis court,
although some sports like the Beach Festival are trying to emulate
squash. You don't want to bus people to the venue, you want to bring the
venue to the people.
Any other projects coming up?
We're launching a new initiative to allow Sports Associations to have
better control of the premises they operate out of. Only football has
its own dedicated HQ at the moment, the Squash Centre is a public
facility which puts a lot of restrictions on what can be done and we'd
like to support the associations to do more.
Such as?
For squash it may mean more junior coaching, development courses and so
on, which could be allowed to run on an 'unprofitable' basis for the
development of the sport, or it may mean taking over the venue, or a new
venue. It's up to the association to submit a five-year plan, we'll talk
to the President about what he wants, we won't dictate.
So it sounds like the Hong Kong Open is secure for a few years?
Yes, we're still working to calculate the economic benefit of this and
other events, but we hope to continue for many years.
This year's event sounds like it's going well upstairs
Yes, let's go and watch some squash! |
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HONG KONG EN BREF ... Issue #2 |
DOUBLE TROUBLE
FOR RACHAEL
One of the last players to arrive was Australia's Rachael Grinham,
who was delayed by the trifling matter of the Carol Weymuller Final in
New York (she won, naturally).
She arrived in Hong Kong a double champion, since a few days before the
start the event had also been dubbed the Women's US Open Championship
for 2006.
The move, confirmed by WISPA, was fairly low key, to the extent that the
reigning US Open champion didn't know, hadn't entered, and was therefore
unable to defend her title.
So you can imagine the greeting that Rachael got from little sister
Natalie ... something along the lines of "Congratulations on nicking
my title, sis!"
Still, at least it keeps it in the family ....
"the EX US Open Champion ..." |
REBECCA IN THE MEDIA
There's no shortage of press interest in in the tournament in Hong Kong
- TVB Pearl are carrying live coverage of the semis and finals,
and during qualifying day one Rebecca Chiu was one of several
players interviewed for the TV station.
And today, just before the main competition starts, there's a lovely
spread in Sing Tao Daily, featuring Rebecca and the Hong Kong
girls who did so well on the first day.
Can't understand a word of it, of course, but it looks lovely doesn't
it! |
 Welcome
to Hong Kong
The official opening cocktail party took place at the rather plush
Ritz-Carlton hotel in Hong Kong Central.
The Harbour Room was resplendent with local dignitiaries and officials
and all the top players. HK Squash Chairman David Mui made the
welcoming speech and there were plenty of photo opportunities with the
players in their Chinese outfits.
And boy, was I glad to see our good friend Alex Wan here at last
to take some decent photos ... life's going to be soooo much easier from
now on! |
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 IT
LOOKS LOVELY ...
WHAT IS IT?
Just like many Asian cities, Hong Kong’s streets are alive with bustle,
flashing lights, shops of all sorts next to each other, lots and lots of
local eating places. Now I love chinese food, but some of us are a
little nervous about trying stuff if we don’t know what it is.
But, on a little trip just down the road from the hotel, the signs
outside and the smells emanating from inside all the restaurants became
just too tempting, so, ignoring the McDonalds, I popped indoors, pointed
at something that looked tempting ... and it was delicious!
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HONG KONG EN BREF ... Issue #1 |
MAGIC TAXIS
 Hong
Kong’s taxis are red and white Toyotas that have a boxy shape
reminiscent of that classic of the past, the Lada.
They go better than that of course, and they have a nice added technical
touch in that the rear doors open by themselves!
So the driver doesn’t have to leap in and out to take care of his
passengers ... but as you can imagine it takes you a bit by surprise the
first time you reach for that door-handle ...
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WEDDING FEVER
Just next door to the HK Squash Centre is a lovely little park, with
georgous flower-beds, fountains, an aviary, with lots of slopes and
aspects, jammed in among the skyscrapers as it is.
But on Saturdays it becomes a virtual photo studio for newly-married
couples and their families. A quick stroll through takes you past
several scenes of newlywed-bliss-to-come, with wedding cars regularly
rolling in and out.
Of course, you just have to take some photos, don’t you ...
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DINK
DINK ...
Everywhere you go in Hong Kong – well, based on a trip from the hotel to
the squash centre, anyway – there’s a constant noise that initially
reminds you of crickets, but it’s a metallic sound.
 Dink
dink ... dink dink ... dink dink .... dink dink .... then for a while it
really speeds up, becomes urgent, a metallic de de de de de de de de de
de de de ....
It’s actually the pedestrian lights, which are everywhere. The slow
‘dink dink’ accompanies the familiar red man, and you quickly come to
hear it as “don’t walk, don’t walk ....”.
The rapid ‘de de de de de’ signals the appearance of the green man, and
the sound just implores you to get across as quick as you can.
Ignore them at your peril ... |
JUMBO HEAVEN
 Most
airports have a variety of different-sized planes, from ‘local-hoppers’
up to the giant beasts.
Hong Kong seems to be a homing ground for 747s, virtually every plane
there was one of Boeing’s behemoths, from countries all around the
world. |
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En Bref
The
giant LCD screen at the back of the court is proving a huge
success. It carries pictures direct from the impressive TVB Pearl
coverage, the quality is fantastic and the great angles and instant
replays are enjoyed by crowd and players alike. 
Dominique
Lloyd- Walter, who was in Tania Bailey's corner (literally!) for her
semi-finals, but sat in the side seating for the other matches. 
"I
just watched the screen most of the time," she said, "it was so good I
hardly looked at the court!"
