Elite Sports Committee requires Tier A sports to deliver results despite flexible ranking system

All sports must still achieve certain results on the international stage to maintain their Tier A status despite a more flexible ranking mechanism, said the chairman of the Elite Sports Committee Cheng King-leung.

His comment came as the Sports Commission decided to revise its funding criteria to maintain snooker and tennis as Tier A elite sports for the next two years.

In a radio program on Tuesday, Cheng said the committee unanimously approved new criteria allowing sports that have participated at least three times in the Olympics or Asian Games since 1997 under the “Hong Kong, China” name to qualify for Tier A status.

Previously, sports needed to feature in at least three of the past four or next two Olympics and Asian Games to qualify as Tier A.

“But with host nations frequently changing event lineups, it would be regrettable if sports lost funding due to factors beyond athletes’ control,” Cheng said.

Tennis also retains its Tier A position after the committee added major international events performances, including Grand Slams, Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup, as an evaluation metric.  

"Without world championships, tennis lacked one scoring category," Cheng noted. "Now, reaching the top three in Grand Slams will count - an extremely demanding standard that reflects our athletes' potential." 

From next month, all elite athletes will receive an 8.3 percent funding increase, with the Senior Squad monthly allowance rising from HK$7,130 to HK$10,000, which Cheng said stays within the Sports Institude’s budget while better supporting athletes.

Lawmaker Vincent Cheng Wing-shun, also a member of the Sports Commission, said on the same program that the HK$10,000 monthly subsidy represents initial support designed to enhance athletes' career development opportunities.

Beyond this direct funding, the Sports Institute provides a complete support "package" including housing, training facilities and meals and athletes can further supplement this through university scholarships and other funding sources, Cheng added.

Vincent Law Wing-chung, chairman of the Billiard Sports Council of Hong Kong China, said players and coaches can temporarily “breathe a sigh of relief” but must keep delivering results to maintain elite funding. 

He highlighted snooker's elite status since 2009 has nurtured stars like Ng On-yee, warning that demotion would have slashed 80 percent of funding, forcing the snooker program to leave the Sports Institute and lose critical support including coaching and accommodation services.

(Ayra Wang)