ENG-2020 — Page 353

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Recreation, Sport, Culture and the Arts

and the presentation ceremony for the 2019 Hong Kong Sports Stars Awards, organised by the federation to recognise the achievements of elite athletes, was postponed to 2021.

The federation also helps athletes through its Hong Kong Athletes Career and Education Programme to obtain educational qualifications and a career after retiring from athletic life. The Sports Legacy Scheme was set up under the federation to employ retired and soon-to-retire athletes as coaches for underprivileged students.

The independent Hong Kong Anti-Doping Committee, formed under the auspices of the federation, plans and implements education and testing programmes to enforce a dope-free environment for fair play under the guidance of the World Anti-doping Agency.

Sporting Achievements

Most international sports events in 2020 were postponed or cancelled because of COVID-19, including the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games. The government and the Hong Kong Sports Institute continued to support athletes in their preparations for these two Games, and by year end Hong Kong athletes had qualified for 29 and 15 events at these two Games respectively.

Badminton players Ng Ka-long and Lee Cheuk-yew won bronze medals in the men's singles events at the Malaysia Masters and the Indonesia Masters respectively in January. Billiard player Ng On-yee won her first championship in 18 months at the WWS Belgian Women's Open in January, beating the world's top ranked player Reanne Evans from the United Kingdom in the final. At the Track Cycling World Championships in February, cyclist Sarah Lee Wai-sze won a bronze medal in sprint, her eighth World Championship medal. The men's foil team (fencers Cheung Ka-long, Cheung Siu-lun, Ryan Choi Chun-yin and Lawrence Ng Lok-wang) clinched Hong Kong's first Olympic qualification in the fencing team event by winning a bronze medal at the World Cup in Cairo in February. Karate athlete Grace Lau Mo-sheung won two bronze medals in the women's individual kata event at the Karate 1 Premier League competitions held at Dubai and Salzburg in February.

Swimmer Siobhan Haughey broke the Asian and Hong Kong records multiple times in 100-m and 200-m freestyle events during the International Swimming League held in Hungary from October to November. She was also named the Most Valuable Player for the second round of the league by winning five golds. Rower Chan Chi-fung broke the world records four times in the 30 minutes and four minutes events in the lightweight men's 19-29 category using the Concept2 Indoor Rower with Slides. He also set new world records for the 42,197-m (marathon) and 21,097-m (half-marathon) events.

Recreation and Sports Programmes

The HAB and other organisations, including the LCSD, Department of Health, Education Bureau, Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China, NSAs, district sports associations and schools, provide community sports activities at various levels, encouraging people of different backgrounds, ages, abilities and interests to participate in sports regularly so

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