Liu the first of many

25-Aug
LIU THE FIRST OF MANY
England's Nick Matthew has played in many qualifying tournaments, as Yorkshire's former British Junior Open champion attempts to establish himself in the top tier of the men's game. Rarely, though, will Nick have come across as inexperienced an opponent as Liu Qiwen.

Liu was introduced to the crowd at the Hong Kong Squash Centre as the first man from the People's Republic of China to play in the Hong Kong Open - and he's only been playing the game for six weeks!

Hong Kong Squash has been helping its mainland counterpart set up a squash programme for the last three years, and Liu's participation in Hong Kong is one step along the way to China taking up a fuller role in world squash.

"After the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok, the Chinese sports authorities wanted to develop squash on the mainland. We helped them set up an association and provided them with technical assistance," David Mui Ying-yuen, Hong Kong Squash chairman told the South China Morning Post.

China's aim is to field a team in the Asian Games in Busan, Korea, and Liu, a former Chinese under-20 badminton representative, will be part of that team.

"I feel immensely proud and honoured to represent China at the Asian Games. I know I'm the pioneer and a lot of responsibility lies on my shoulder," Liu told the SCMP.

"There is not too much difference in the two sports and I decided to play squash. It is something new to me and I also knew it would give me the opportunity to play in international events for China," Liu explained.

China has already become a member of the Asian Squash Federation and entry into the world governing body, the World Squash Federation, is expected to follow soon.

"This is the first step. We hope China can soon become a world power in squash. I for one don't think it will be a problem. The Chinese have an affinity and natural skills for racquet sports and it will just be a matter of time," added Mui, who is also the vice-president of the ASF.

Liu didn't make it to the final qualifying stage, losing 7,7 7 to Matthew in 19 minutes, but then, neither did any of the eight Hong Kong entrants in the first round of qualifying.

Don't expect that to last though ...

Qualifying results