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Four elite sports of the Hong Kong Sports Institute (HKSI) celebrated the opening of their new home venues today at a ceremony officiated by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mrs Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, Carrie GBS JP and the HKSI Chairman, Mr Carlson Tong, JP at its Fo Tan headquarters.

The new facilities are the Rowing Boathouse and the Multi-purpose Sports Hall, which houses the Squash Courts, Tenpin Bowling Centre and Wushu Hall.   With the opening, rowing and tenpin bowling will have a new state-of-the-art elite training base while squash and wushu will benefit from expanded and upgraded training facilities.

Today’s opening was not only a significant occasion for the long-term development of the four sports, it was also an important milestone for the Redevelopment Project of the HKSI.  Mr Carlson Tong, Chairman of the HKSI is pleased that the Opening has been named a signature event under “Vibrant Hong Kong” of the “Hong Kong: Our Home” Campaign launched by the HKSAR Government.  The Campaign aims to inject positive energy into society, foster social cohesion and promote care, mutual help and solidarity in the community.

Mr Tong said, “With these world-class training venues and new facilities now ready for use, together with the support provided by the HKSI in the field of sports science, I believe the standards of the Hong Kong elite athletes will constantly improve and they will achieve excellent results in the international sporting arena.”

He also expressed heartfelt thanks to all parties who enabled the completion of all these four new facilities.  He said, “Thanks to the HK$1.8 billion funding from the Government, and the collaborated support from various parties, namely the Home Affairs Bureau, Leisure and Cultural Services Department, Architectural Services Department, Sports Federation & Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China, the District Council, National Sports Associations, HKSI Board of Directors and the HKSI Redevelopment Project Steering Committee.”

In line with the Government’s strategy to promote sports in the community, to support elite sports, and to develop Hong Kong into a prime destination for hosting major international sports events, Mrs Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, Carrie, the Chief Secretary for Administration, said, “I am delighted to witness the completion of the new facilities of the HKSI, which will provide more modern and extensive training facilities for our elite athletes to assist them in pursuing excellence in the international sports arena.”

The ceremony was followed by a tour of the new facilities.  The newly completed Rowing Boathouse, standing amidst the greenery of the Shing Mun Riverside, provides one-stop service for athlete training and analysis, boat storage and maintenance workshop, as well as administration for elite training.  Rower Tang Chiu-mang said, “It is very exciting for rowing to have our own base on the HKSI campus, as we were using shared facilities before. The new Boathouse allows us to store our boats, get them rigged and repaired, and do land training all in the same building. We can also have team briefings and meet with the coaches at the same location. Surrounded by nice scenery and with fantastic facilities, the new Rowing Boathouse is the perfect place for our training.”

The Multi-purpose Sports Hall, which houses elite training facilities for squash, wushu and tenpin bowling under one roof, is designed as an integral part of the existing Indoor Sports Complex.  The Squash Courts, inter-convertible as double and single courts, provide an additional training venue for elite athletes on top of the Squash Courts in the existing Indoor Sports Complex.  The new Squash Courts are fitted with a Training Video Delay Feedback System for elite training purposes.

With an area of around 1,500 square metres, the Wushu Hall provides both a spacious training site for athletes and a competition venue that can accommodate up to 100 spectators.  The venue is installed with a large display screen for spectators.

The 12-lane Tenpin Bowling Centre, equipped with two types of the most commonly used alleys, AMF and Brunswick, will facilitate training athletes to suit different venues in international competitions.  Bowler Wu Siu-hong said, “The new Bowling Centre is well-equipped and comfortable for our training.  In addition to the Training Video Delay Feedback System, we have also installed the Computer Aided Tracking System which can help track the bowling ball movement too.  All these are beneficial in enhancing our performance.”

Besides the four new facilities opened today, new buildings of the HKSI Redevelopment Project also include a 52m International Standard Indoor Swimming Pool opened last year and a new 9-storey Multi-purpose Building to be in operation later this year.  With the full completion of the HKSI Redevelopment, the HKSI will provide world-class, barrier-free and environmentally-friendly training facilities for elite athletes to assist them in the pursuit of excellence in the international sporting arena.  For more information about the new buildings, please click here.