The 6th Hong Kong Games (HKG) Opening Ceremony, attended by an audience of around 10 000 from 18 districts, was held successfully at the Hong Kong Coliseum in Hung Hom this afternoon (April 23).

The Chief Executive, Mr C Y Leung, officiated at the ceremony and announced the official opening of the 6th HKG.

Addressing the audience and athletes at the ceremony, the Secretary for Home Affairs, Mr Lau Kong-wah said that he hoped that friendship and community cohesion could be enhanced through the competitions among the 18 districts. He also hoped that the HKG could promote sports in the community.

Mr Lau pointed out that the 6th HKG was one of the celebration events for the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. He urged members of the public to watch the competitions and cheer for the athletes.

After the Chief Executive's announcement of the official opening of the 6th HKG, an athlete representative from Yuen Long District, the overall champion of the 5th HKG, took an oath on behalf of all participating athletes of the 6th HKG.

Hong Kong elite athletes Sarah Lee and Angus Ng then led the athletes representing the 18 districts into the Coliseum and passed the torch to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games Mainland diving gold medallists, Chen Ruolin and Lin Yue, who lit the cauldron of the 6th HKG.

Supporting the 6th HKG, elite athletes Sarah Lee, Angus Ng , Wu Siu-hong, Stephanie Au, Christy Yiu and Yip Pui-yin attended the ceremony and took part in a sharing session. The ceremony also featured a host of wonderful programmes including performances by 18 district cheering teams at the pre-show, as well as dragon and lion dances, unicycling, artistic cycling, dancing, rhythmic gymnastics, artistic rope-skipping and drum performances. Chen Ruolin and Lin Yue also sang a song together.

The opening ceremony was broadcast live on the event day and highlights of the programme will be broadcast by TVB J2 at 7pm on April 29.

The 6th HKG is organised by the Sports Commission and co-ordinated by the Community Sports Committee, with the 18 District Councils; the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD); the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China; and relevant National Sports Associations as co-organisers.

The 6th HKG comprises eight sports competitions, namely athletics, badminton, basketball, futsal, swimming, table tennis, tennis and volleyball. All competitions will be held at venues of the LCSD and are open to the public for free viewing. Competition schedules are available on the HKG designated website: www.hongkonggames.hk.

Ends/Sunday, April 23, 2017
Issued at HKT 17:29