Beach tennis making steady progress in Hong Kong as higher-level event brings in big guns
Discovery Bay tournament still in early stage but aims to make Hong Kong a future ‘grand slam’ destination for the sport
While most cities in the northern hemisphere are already close to winter, the ITF Beach Tennis World Tour finished its three-day event on Sunday under sunny skies and a temperature of around 25 degrees Celsius at Hong Kong’s Discovery Bay with music, beer and cheers.
This is the second time the tournament has come to the city, and this year the event reached the BT 100 level, meaning players could earn 100 points by winning the event. The tournament attracted 180 registered players, including 130 from overseas, with 15 ranked in the world’s top 100.
The event first came to Hong Kong in April this year as the city’s first international beach tennis tournament sanctioned by the sport’s global governing body. But only BT 10 and BT 50 level matches were held, with 80 players joining.
Arnault Brac de la Perriere, the main organiser for both tournaments, hopes to develop the sport steadily in Hong Kong. He saw Sunday’s event as a clear step in his development plan.
“We are still in the early stage, but our ambition is to build one of the biggest tournaments in the world and bring it to Hong Kong, like Wimbledon,” said Brac de la Perriere, unofficially Hong Kong’s leading player. “That’s like a grand slam in tennis. There are also four grand slams for beach tennis, and we want Hong Kong to be one of those grand slams.”
Brac de la Perriere believed the beach was “an amazing thing” for Hong Kong that should be shown to the world, presenting a different side of the city beyond its buildings and business.