Golf
Monday, 02 November 2009 09:11
Written by Urbanatomy

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The top four Chinese golfers recently unveiled in the official China Golf Ranking have secured their entry to the WGC-HSBC Champions, adding further star quality to what is already the greatest field ever assembled anywhere in the continent. Liang Wenchong, Zhang Lianwei, Wu Ashun, and Wu Weihuang have confirmed their participation at the WGC-HSBC Champions, and they have high hopes for beating their own performance from last year as the newly elevated WGC-HSBC Champions raises the bar for the world’s best players.

This is the highest number of Chinese players ever seen in a World Golf Championships field, and according to the China Golf Association, the benefits of hosting the first WGC event to take place in Asia will further enhance the development of golf in China and will have a very positive impact on the popularization of the sport.

Zhang Xiaoning, Director of Multi-ball Sports Administration Center, General Administration of Sports of China, Executive Vice President and Secretary General of China Golf Association said, “We welcome the commitment of the world’s best golfers and look forward to welcoming them to China for the upgraded WGC-HSBC Champions. We believe this prestigious World Golf Championship will be the main force driving the development of the sport of golf in China, and with the rapid development of golf in China, we’re confident more Chinese players will make their mark on the map of world golf in years to come.”

Zhang Lianwei, who clinched a top spot in last month’s 2009 Midea China Classic, said to return to the Sheshan International Golf Club is not only an honour, but a challenge he embraces. “I’m very happy to see the upgrading of the HSBC Champions to a WGC event, and as the tournament continued to rise in importance over the past few years, it has attracted players of the highest calibre from around the world, raising the international interest in the WGC-HSBC Champions. I’m very grateful to the CGA for awarding me this invitation, and I especially look forward to competing with the world’s best players on Chinese soil,” said Zhang.

From the long-term sponsor of the HSBC Champions, Giles Morgan, HSBC Group Head of Sponsorship, sends his congratulations to the four China players who have secured their places in this year’s WGC-HSBC Champions. “I’m really happy to see the two pathfinders for the first and second generations of China’s professionals – Zhang and Liang – in the field. Of course they deserve to be there based on their performances this year, but they also deserve to be there for showing the way for Chinese golfers throughout their careers. ‘Alex’ Wu is only 24 and has the potential to follow in Zhang and Liang’s footsteps as the leader of his generation, while Wu Weihuang has got to be the most interesting man in the entire field. He may even be the first golfer in a WGC event to have a won a national championship in the martial arts!”

Morgan added, “It’s interesting to note the many and varied paths each of these golfers have taken to win the honour of representing China in such an historic event. However, my hope is in future years I hope to see China’s representatives all having one common background and that’s through the CGA-HSBC China Junior Golf Program. If that happens, it would mean the framework of competitions, coaching and coach education we have helped put in place to develop future generations will have worked.”

Robbie Henchman, Director of Golf, Asia Pacific, Senior Vice President, IMG, said, “The confirmed entry of the top four Chinese players marks the final countdown to the WGC-HSBC Champions at Sheshan later this week, which will be more exciting than before with the greatest field ever assembled.”

The spectacular lineup of 78 of the world’s top players includes world number one Tiger Woods, world number two Phil Mickelson, defending champion Sergio Garcia, Yang Yong-Eun, the first Asian-born golfer to win a PGA championship, Padraig Harrington, and Paul Casey.

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