Class of 2003
Tsui Wai Pui

Biography

Widely recognised as one of the two most successful players in the history of Hong Kong tennis (the other being Ip Koon Hung), Tsui Wai Pui won a remarkable 34 major Hong Kong titles over a 32-year span – five Hong Kong National Grass Court Men’s Singles titles (1934, 1936, 1938 – 39, 1948); ten Hong Kong National Grass Court Men’s Doubles titles (1936, 1938 – 39, 1941, 1947 – 49, 1953, 1957, 1960); four Hong Kong National Hardcourt Men’s Singles titles (1937 – 1938, 1947 – 48); ten Hong Kong National Hardcourt Men’s Doubles titles (1937 – 1938, 1947 – 1948, 1951, 1959 – 1961, 1963, 1966) and five Hong Kong National Hardcourt Mixed Doubles titles (1947, 1952, 1959, 1961 – 62).

Admired as one of the most gifted strikers of the ball, he collected a host of titles at both the Hong Kong National Grass Court and Hardcourt Championships. He teamed up with his regular doubles partner, his younger brother, Tsui Yun Pui, with great success, yielding a total of 18 major doubles titles in all. In 1937, he played Davis Cup for China and in the same year he competed at the famed French Open at Roland Garros. Together with his brother they were the first doubles tandem from the territory to win a major medal on the Mainland when they captured the Men’s Doubles gold medal at the 1948 China National Games.

His Men’s Doubles triumph at the 1966 National Hardcourt Championships with Louis Hsu made him the oldest HK player to win a local major, at age 55. In addition, as far back as any form of record can indicate, Tsui Wai Pui was the only Hong Kong player to have ever won or reached local major doubles finals by partnering, at one time or another, his younger brother Tsui Yun Pui, his daughter Tsui Yuen Yuen (three Mixed Doubles titles at the Hong Kong National Hardcourt Championships in 1959 and 1961 – 62) and his son Kenneth Tsui (Men’s Doubles finalists at the Hong Kong National Hardcourt Championships in 1967).

While Tsui Wai Pui played Davis Cup for China, his son Kenneth played Davis Cup for Hong Kong, while his grandson, Derek Ling, is a former Captain of the Hong Kong Davis Cup team, making it three successive generations of his family that had direct involvement with the Davis Cup. His daughter, Yuen Yuen, meanwhile, played Fed Cup for Hong Kong, and later also became Captain of the Hong Kong Fed Cup team.