24 February 2020 ─ Hong Kong Lacrosse Association has decided to cancel the Hong Kong Lacrosse Open 2020 originally scheduled from 10 to 13 April due to the outbreak of ‘COVID-19’.

Raymond Fong, CEO of the association said, ‘The current epidemic situation in Hong Kong has not subsided. Different countries and regions include Hong Kong, have implemented 14-day compulsory quarantine order. Overseas teams have taken this into consideration and decided not to join this year. Hong Kong Open has been held for 6 years. It’s the first time the competition was cancelled due to a public health issue.’

In addition to international events, the local events of the Hong Kong Lacrosse Association were also affected by the epidemic. The Men ’s Champions League was forced to be cut while the Women ’s Champion League’s schedule must be shortened and go directly to the finals. As for school competitions, the Inter-School Cup originally scheduled in April will also be postponed and will not be held until May at the earliest.

Raymond Fong, CEO of the association said, ‘The Hong Kong Lacrosse Open is the biggest annual event for the local lacrosse community. The tournament helps local players to gain experience through competition with overseas teams. It’s also part of the training program of the Hong Kong team to prepare for the men ’s U19 World Championships held in Ireland in July this year. The cancellation of the tournament greatly affected the Hong Kong team ’s preparation. The government ’s training ground is still closed and the Hong Kong team ’s routine training was forced to be cancelled. Players can only perform physical training on their own. The schedule of other local competitions also needs to be rearranged. Our coaching team can now only act according to situation. I hope that the epidemic can be eased as soon as possible, and everything will be back on track soon. "

The Hong Kong Lacrosse Open has been held since 2014. Last year, a total of 21 teams competed, including 11 men's teams and 10 women's teams from Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Japan, South Korea and China. The Hong Kong Men's and Women's teams won the championship in 2017 and 2018, respectively. Last year, the two teams lost to the Japanese team FOGO and Keio University and finished second.