Introduction to the HKSAR Delegation

 

The 14th National Games of the People's Republic of China (14th National Games) will be held in Shaanxi Province from 15 September to 27 September 2021. In April 2021, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government set up an Organising Committee of the HKSAR Delegation (OC) to handle all matters relating to the participation of the HKSAR Delegation in the Games. The OC is led by Mr. Timothy FOK, President of the Sports Federation & Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China (SF&OC), and consists of members from the SF&OC, the sports sector, the Home Affairs Bureau, and the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD). The LCSD has assumed the Secretariat duties of the OC. To take forward the specific work for the formation of the HKSAR Delegation and deal with appeals relating to participation in the Games in a more efficient manner, an Executive Committee (EC) and an Appeal Board have been set up under the OC. The EC has also invited six veterans from the sports sector as co-opted members in order to draw on their expert advice on the HKSAR Delegation's participation in the 14th National Games.

According to the requirements of the General Administration of Sport of China (GASC), the HKSAR Delegation is required to take part in the qualifier matches of certain events such as football, basketball, volleyball (volleyball), handball, hockey, baseball/softball, water polo and rugby. The HKSAR Delegation is granted direct entry to the finals of the remaining events. Having considered the preventive and control measures and requirements on the COVID-19 pandemic implemented in various provinces in the Mainland and taking in account the results of the HKSAR Delegation in the last two NGs, the GASC exempted the HKSAR Delegation from the requirement of taking part in the qualifier matches of six team events including handball (men), baseball (men), water polo (men and women) and rugby (men and women) and granted the HKSAR Delegation direct entry to the finals. The HKSAR Delegation was unable to send teams to take part in the qualifier matches of the 14th National Games, in light of the pre-match quarantine requirements.

For those events in which our athletes have been granted direct entry to the finals, the EC had finished vetting the lists of athletes nominated by the National Sports Associations (NSAs) according to the selection criteria endorsed by the OC. Together with the events in which our athletes were exempted from qualifier matches, Hong Kong has sent a total of 171 athletes to compete in 18 final events of the 14th National Games, namely archery, athletics, badminton, boxing, canoe (sprint), cycling (road race, track, mountain bike), equestrian (jumping), fencing, golf, gymnastics (rhythmic gymnastics), table tennis, taekwondo, tennis, volleyball (beach volleyball), baseball/softball (baseball), karatedo, sports climbing and wushu (taolu, sanda).

Enjoy the Games Cheer for Friendship

In the last National Games, our athletes won a total of 16 medals (2 gold, 7 silver and 7 bronze medals). This is the seventh time for the Hong Kong, China Delegation to compete in this major national sports event since our first participation in the 8th National Games in 1997 after the reunification. Almost every other sports event was postponed or cancelled around the world due the global impact of the epidemic. Despite the great impact on training and planning, Hong Kong athletes cherish the chance of participating in the National Games by undergoing intensive training. “Enjoy the Games Cheer for Friendship” has been adopted as the HKSAR Delegation’s slogan for participating in the 14th National Games. Apart from enhancing their own skills, our athletes are also keen to develop precious friendship through exchanging with their mainland counterparts.

(Information as of 31 August 2021)