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The Football Association of Hong Kong, China
SportFootball

South China restart Hong Kong football with win – and coach targets top flight

  • Heavyweights beat Eastern District as competitive action, on hold since January, resumes with League Cup
  • ‘As a club with such a long history in Hong Kong football and a strong fan base, South China should play in the top tier,’ says coach Ku Kam-fai

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South China faced Eastern District as Hong Kong football returned. Photo: Xiaomei Chen
Chan Kin-wa
This article is part of the SCMP’s series on the long-awaited resumption of sport in Hong Kong. After months of cancelled competitions and facility closures as the city battled a Covid-19 outbreak, elite athletes as well as the public are returning to pitches, pools and tracks.
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Hong Kong football ended its Covid-19 hiatus on Sunday, with South China getting off to a winning start in the pick of the League Cup fixtures that marked the city’s first competitive action since January.

The traditional heavyweights drew a small but committed crowd of fans who had waited almost five months to watch them, and they did not have long to wait for some incident on a hot Sunday afternoon at Happy Valley Recreation Ground.

The very first minute brought a goal – but for Eastern District, as a lapse in concentration caused the Caroliners to fall behind to Kwok Ho-lam’s strike.

That was the best Eastern District could offer, however, and a low drive from Leung Chong-yip equalised before the break, with Kwok Ting-him and Ho Shing-yuen netting in the second half to give South China a 3-1 victory.

It was a reminder that the 41-time Hong Kong champions should be back in the top-flight Premier League – whose teams have yet to return to action – rather than featuring in the amateur divisions, according to their coach Ku Kam-fai.

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Hong Kong sport returns
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