Hong Kong vows to reclaim International Invitational title when darts return to city this weekend
- 30 events will be on display when International Darts Festival returns after a three-year Covid-19 hiatus
- Team Hong Kong, led by World Youth champion Hugo Leung, in top form as they prepare to defend title against top teams from around the world
International darts returns to the city this weekend after a three-year hiatus, with defending champions Hong Kong vowing to top the podium one again, despite the threat from an experienced United Kingdom team.
A highlight of the Hong Kong International Darts Festival Championship, which runs from Friday to Sunday at AsiaWorld-Expo, is the International Invitational team event, featuring teams from Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, the UK as well as host Hong Kong.
The city’s squad, led by current World Youth quarter-finalist Hugo Leung Man-lok, has waited three years to defend their title.
“We have trained a long time as a team,” the 23-year-old Leung said. “We have a very good team bond and spirit, that is our trump card to win the title.”
Leung, who became the first Asian to advance to the quarter-finals of the 2022 Professional Darts Corporation World Youth Championship in early October in Wigan, lost to runner-up Nathan Girvan of Scotland.
As a member of the winning team in 2019, where Hong Kong defeated China in the semis before beating Japan 4-1 in the final, Leung said he was confident of reclaiming the crown, even with a formidable UK team.
“I was just back from Singapore 10 days ago, I upset Adrian Gray in the quarters, it boosted me a lot,” Leung said.