Catch and kick - football with an Irish twist comes to conquer Hong Kong

If you had played word association with 'Hong Kong', 'sport' and 'Ireland' back in June most responses would have been 'Special Olympics' and 'Sars', made with a sour face. That was when overzealous health officials in Ireland put Hong Kong's Special Olympians through all kinds of hoops before finally admitting a depleted squad to the Games.

This weekend the same word drill should produce a much more positive spin thanks to the Asian Gaelic Games, a two-day festival of Irish sport at Aberdeen Sports Ground which concludes today and which will help raise funds for a local Down Syndrome charity. The centrepiece of the Games is the Gaelic Football Sevens tournament, culminating in the men's Cup final around 5.30pm.

It's a colourful scene at the stadium close to Ocean Park. Bunting, national flags for all the competing countries, a children's bouncy castle, souvenir stand, live music and plenty of food and beverages combine to give a festive feel to proceedings. This is the eighth and biggest Asian Gaelic tournament, since the event started in Manila in 1996, but it's the first time Hong Kong has hosted it.

'We're hoping for a kind of cosmopolitan parochialism from this tournament, a totally friendly parish atmosphere in an international setting,' said John Hone, president of the Hong Kong Gaelic Athletic Association (HKGAA). 'I use the word parochial in the most positive sense because in Ireland the national structure of the Gaelic games is founded on the basic unit of the parish club.' Hone, a teacher by profession, is 42 and has mock-mournfully declared this weekend to be his swansong as a football player.

Play closed yesterday with the men's quarter-finals and will resume today with the knockout competitions in Cup, Bowl and Plate as well as the women's knockout rounds. Admission is free.

'What we are trying to put together here is a grand international feel of the rugby sevens as it must have been in its early years,' explained Fergal Power, chairman of the tournament organising committee. 'We moved to Hong Kong from Phuket, where we held the past three tournaments, because the venue was not big enough to get the crowds it deserved and we think we can get that in Hong Kong. Also Hong Kong is an easier destination to reach and the facilities here are excellent.'