East Asian Games: Important imports to Hong Kong sport

The East Asian Games starts in two days and Hong Kong eyes will be on the homegrown athletes. But some of the most illustrious, hard-working stars in Hong Kong's world of sports are not even from the city. Here are five imported talents who have changed the way the game is played since they landed in Hong Kong.

Zhou Mi, controversial badminton star

Losing was an act of patriotism for Zhou Mi. Mainland media branded her a traitor, however, when she appeared to consider winning for a country other than China. In March of 2008, China’s badminton coach admitted on television that he instructed Zhou to lose in the semifinal match of the 2004 Athens Games. She had paired against teammate Zhang Ning. The coach thought a rested Zhang would have better gold medal odds. The strategy worked. China took gold and bronze. Zhou (the bronze medalist) later told reporters that she was proud of losing intentionally for her country.

After the Olympics, a knee injury sidelined Zhou, and she “retired” from badminton. She did not compete in any tournaments in 2006, although she visited Malaysia to spar with local athletes. Her former coach admonished Zhou in the media. She addressed critics on Sohu.com, claiming that newspapers distorted her visit, and that she had no plans to play for any foreign country. She established residency in Hong Kong the following year. Zhou lost her international ranking during the athletic sabbatical, but she exhibited a rapid return to form, winning a slew of international tournaments and titles. She spent much of 2009 ranked No. 1 in the world. The 30-year-old athlete enters the EAG at No. 5. The International Olympic Committee rejected her application to represent Hong Kong in the Beijing Games on the grounds that she did not possess a HKSAR passport. If she had been permitted to compete at the 2008 Olympics, there’s no telling how far she may have gone. Her former teammate, Zhang Ning, once again took gold.

Shen Jinkang, protege hunter

Hong Kong became a cycling powerhouse thanks to a coach from Shanghai. The former head coach of the Chinese national team, Shen Jinkang, found the Hong Kong team in a terrible state when he arrived in 1994. Grass grew in the velodrome in Sha Tin, where cyclists sometimes practiced. And they lacked sponsors. A fistfight had erupted amongst teammates, including Wong Kam-po (one of our greatest Hong Kong sports heroes) in the south of France, two years prior, during Olympic training. One cyclist was injured. The alleged dispute? A badly parked car.

Weeks before the Barcelona Games, they suffered an embarrassing call back to Hong Kong. Wong Kam-po retired after the incident. Like an expert gardener, Shen walked through the weeds, and he nurtured the fruit of victory by convincing Wong to return to the team. The following year, Wong won the Tour de Okinawa, and wins kept coming. The yellow jersey now is common attire for Shen’s protégé and Wong won the World Championships in 2007. Last August, he claimed his third Chinese national title and he is a favorite to win the EAG road race.

Mainland cycling teams are rumored to covet the coach. Although it’s hard to imagine Shen leaving Hong Kong any time soon, especially with the 36-year-old Wong gearing up for his fifth and final Olympic bid in 2012. If and when Wong should retire, an 18-year-old Choi Ki-ho (junior national medalist) and 24-year-old Cheung King Wai (2006 Asian Games gold medalist) appear ready to occupy Shen for years to come.

Hannah Wilson, everything but technicality

One of Hong Kong’s best swimmers used to be British, technically. Hannah Wilson was born and raised in Hong Kong. However, a rule change from the IOC nearly prevented Wilson from representing her home at the Athens Games. At the time of her appeal, 14-year-old Wilson held the HKSAR record for 100-meter freestyle. The new rule required competitors to possess a passport for their team’s country. Because she was a minor, the British Consulate would not allowed Wilson to renounce her citizenship -- her parents are expats -- yet she also could not obtain a HKSAR passport without relinquishing her British “birthright.”

An IOC committee eventually cleared Wilson and seven others. Wilson was the only non-Mainland athlete in the bunch. She was also the only Caucasian on Hong Kong’s Olympic squad in Athens, where she broke her own SAR record during qualifying heats. She broke that record again before graduating from secondary school on Hong Kong Island. Following Olympic teammate Tsai Hiu-wai, Wilson enrolled at the University of California -- where Tsai had been team captain. There, Wilson swims alongside some of the world’s top talent, including phenom Natalie Coughlin (who swam away with 6 gold medals at the Beijing Games). She encountered another bureaucratic tangle leading up to the Beijing Games. No longer a minor, swimming officials pressured her to renounce her British citizenship, but she obtained another IOC waver. Wilson eventually did the deed and became an official Hong Konger in 2009. Now at age 20, she holds three records for her home: 100 freestyle (55.32), 50 freestyle (26.03) and 100 butterfly (59.35).

Li Ching and Ko Lai-chak, superheroes from the mainland 

They are the ping-pong-paddling Batman and Robin of Hong Kong sport. Li Ching and Ko Lai-chak are HKSAR’s only Olympic medalists still competing. Simply known as “Duo,” they are local superheroes. Both athletes were born in Guangdong Province and joined the Chinese national team. Disappointments in their careers led each to quit and relocate to Hong Kong, where they joined forces. They were among eight athletes waved past the IOC rule that also threatened Hannah Wilson’s Olympic debut. Li works offense. Ko manages defense. The complimentary combo clinched silver at the Athens Games. They walked away with the former colony’s first and only medal since the handover (the only other medal in Hong Kong’s 56 years of Olympic competition came in 1996 for windsurfing).

Following Olympic silver, the dynamic “Duo” nabbed gold at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha. The partners fare better together, though each has achieved individual success: Li is currently No. 20 in global ranking, according to the International Table Tennis Federation (he once took second place at China’s National Cup) and Ko is ranked No. 30 (he advanced to singles semifinals at the Beijing Olympics). They will appear in the East Asian Games for the first time. Previous EAG did not include table tennis as a sport. Competition will be tough. The event features half of the world’s top-30 ranked men.