26-Nov:
Hong Kong:
the ever-popular stop on the squash tour
Tournaments come and tournaments go but the Hong Kong Open
has been a fixture on the circuit for many years now. It
continues to improve year on year, and shows absolutely no sign
of going away any time soon with title sponsors Cathay
Pacific and Sun Hung Kai Financial recently signing up for
another five years.
The first event was held in 1985 and it has been held
every year since with the exception of 2003 when it was
cancelled due to the SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome)
outbreak in the SAR (Special Administrative Region).
The list of champions is a roll call for the greatest players of
the last quarter-century, with several of the leading names
establishing their own Hong Kong dynasties:
 Pakistan
legend Jansher Khan won eight times from 86 to 95,
beating Australians in seven of those finals; Australians
Rodney and Brett Martin and Rodney Eyles took home
the title five times surrounding the Jansher years; Peter
Nicol, who lost that eighth final to Jansher, recorded a
hat-trick from 99 to 02; and more recently Amr Shabana
won five in a row from 05 (the year that Hong Kong hosted the
world open) to 09.
Fellow Egyptian Ramy Ashour, having lost out to Shabana
in the 06 final, has won two of the last three and could well be
on his way to equalling or surpassing his compatriot in the
coming years.
The women's event started later, with events in 93, 94 won by
Michelle Martin, and 01 when Leilani Rorani
triumphed, but it been a fixture as a World Series event on the
women’s tour since the World Open in 05.
It was Malaysia's Nicol David who won that, shortly
before becoming world number one, and she has not only held on
to that top spot in the rankings ever since, she has won every
edition of the event too, a HK winning streak of eight titles
and 40 matches!
Full list of Hong Kong Finals
Organised for many of the early years by Heather Deayton,
now a vice-president of the WSF but still very active on the HK
scene, the recent events have been handled by Tony Choi and
Karl Mak, and the transition has been impeccably smooth.
The schedule has remained largely the same, with the early
stages taking place at Hong Kong Squash Centre, and in recent
times the semis and finals switching between the Plaza
Hollywood shopping mall and the iconic Cultural Centre.
Both are on the Kowloon - mainland - side, where the Cultural
Centre sits on the harbourfront with stunning views looking
across to Hong Kong Island and its famous highrise building line
complete with fabulous evening lighting displays.
 In
keeping with Hong Kong’s reputation as one of the busiest places
on the planet, there are precious few rest days in the schedule
- only in the last two years has the first round been split to
allow for more TV and streaming coverage. So if you want to win
here you’re going to have to win five matches in five - perhaps
six - days.
So, as the 2013 edition approaches, those players who want to
display their talents on the harbourfront - yes, the Cultural
Centre will host the last two days for the third year in a row -
know that they’ll have a busy schedule as well as all the rest
of the world’s best to contend with.
The attractions of Hong Kong may make losing early a little
easier to take, but that’s far from the minds of the contenders
as they make their preparations. |
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