HK hoping to host eight events in 2025 National Games
Hong Kong officials are hoping to secure several events, including football and rugby sevens, when the city co-hosts the National Games in 2025 with Macau and Guangdong, sources say. Other events Hong Kong is expected to seek to hold are fencing, track cycling, golf, handball, beach volleyball and wind surfing, with national sports authorities to decide who gets what.  Hong Kong fencer Cheung Siu-lun, who was part of the men's foil team that won bronze at the 2021 Shaanxi National Games, told RTHK on Friday that athletes would love the opportunity to play in front of a home crowd. "Our friends and family, the public, many people will be attracted to cheer for us. There will be a great atmosphere...If we play at home, there's a great chance we can win medals," he said. Pui Kwan-kay, who chairs the Hong Kong Football Association (HKFA), said matches for the under-20s are expected to be played on the mainland, where they attach a greater importance to the games. But he said Hong Kong could still host the under-18s matches at the brand new Kai Tak Sports Park, with its 50,000 seat stadium. Pui said with two years left before the National Games, Hong Kong will step up youth training much like it did before the 2008 Beijing Olympics, when the HKFA formed a team called Hong Kong 08. "That scheme was successful. Although the team didn't make the Olympic tournament, the players groomed won the gold medal at the 2009 East Asian Games here, defeating Japan and South Korea. That was a surprise," he told RTHK. When asked about how the government is preparing for the Games, such as which venues will be used, the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau said it had nothing to add at this stage.