Ice-skating duo Pang Qing and Tong Jian are hoping a home crowd will propel them to glory at the Cup of China, the third event on the ISU Grand Prix tour that begins today. China's Olympic silver medallists enter the three-day event in Shanghai as strong favourites to take the pairs title. Pang and Tong won silver at Skate America last month, but are expected to go one better at Shanghai's Oriental Sports Centre to secure their place in next month's Grand Prix final. "The most important goal for us in Shanghai is to win the ticket to the final. We want the gold medal here," Tong said. AFP
Lawn bowls star Stanley Lai recorded Hong Kong's best ever result with a second-place finish at the World Champion of Champions tournament in Cyprus, while Mercredi Yeung finished fifth in the women's competition. Lai lost to world No 29 Mohamad Hizlee of Malaysia 13-6, 7-5 in the final. "I think I performed well throughout," Lai said. "I was consistent for most of the games and minimising my errors was the key to getting through to the final. Surprisingly, the green is just like the one at Victoria Park At some point, I even felt like I was playing at my home green." Unus Alladin
