HKCTA Internal Communication
Important Notice: HKCTA Senior Personnel Announcement
As part of the transformation strategy of HKCTA the HKCTA Council is pleased to announce the following senior management appointments and changes.
A. Management Appointments
Clare Wood, Director of International Events & Competitions
Clare is responsible for overseeing and managing the ATP and WTA events, as well as international team competitions, including the Davis Cup, BJK Cup and other potential tennis events. Clare is also responsible for the delivery of all aspects of local international competitions (ITF and ATF) and local competitions. This role will involve collaborating with various stakeholders to ensure the successful execution of tournaments / events and enhancing the tennis season in Hong Kong.
Clare is responsible for supervising the International Event Department, Tournament Department and Officiating Department. Clare will join the HKCTA on 1 April 2026.
Clare is a WTA Supervisor. Clare started her tennis career as a professional on the tour. She competed on the WTA Tour for over 10 years from 1986 – 1997, reaching the top 80 in singles. During that time she represented Great Britain in the Billie Jean King Cup, Wightman Cup and 3 Olympic Games (Seoul, Barcelona & Atlanta). After her career as a professional player Clare moved into a coaching role and thereafter in officiating and working for the WTA. When Clare was not working for the Tour she worked in a number of roles within the world of tennis, including being the Sport Manager for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in London 2012. Clare is also an ITF gold badge referee. From 2000 to 2019 Clare was also an Assistant Referee at The Championships, Wimbledon.
Wilson Ng, Director of Tennis Administration & Commercialization
Wilson is responsible for overseeing certain key operational areas that are critical to HKCTA’s growth and sustainability and will ensure effective delivery of commercial initiatives, youth development programmes, tennis centre operations, CSR projects and Pickleball, working closely with internal teams and external stakeholders.
Wilson is responsible for supervising the Coaching Administration Department, the Marketing Department and the Commercial Sponsorship Team of HKTS. Wilson will join the HKCTA on 26 January 2026.
Prior to joining HKCTA Wilson was the Managing Director of Kitchee Football Club responsible for Operations and Governance. For twelve years Wilson was in charge of all aspects of the football club operations (outside of coaching) and spearheaded the operational setup of the Hong Kong Jockey Club Kitchee Centre and CUHK Medical Clinic @Kitchee. Wilson has a hospitality degree by training and worked for the Mandarin Oriental Group and was specializing in hospitality management before entering the sports sector.
Iris Tai, Director of Finance and Control
Iris will be responsible for financial planning, budgeting, reporting, compliance, and internal controls—This is a critical role in ensuring the financial health and sustainability of the growth of the HKCTA. This is a hybrid leadership role that combines the strategic oversight and the operational precision experience. Iris is tasked with the responsibility of scaling our operations and driving our next phase of financial growth.
Iris is responsible for supervising the Finance Department, HR Department, Compliance Department and supervising the Office Administration Team. Iris will join the HKCTA on 9 March 2026.
Iris has a proven track record in transition implementation and forward-looking financial management. Iris is a strategic finance leader with over 18 years of experience driving financial excellence across public and private groups in Hong Kong and Canada. A Certified Public Accountant (HKICPA) with an MBA, she specializes in aligning controllership, treasury, and corporate reporting with expansion-focused business goals. Throughout her career, including senior roles at HKEx-listed entities, she has successfully led cross-functional teams and implemented strategies that enhance efficiency and support executive decision-making.
Clare Wood, Wilson Ng and Iris Tai will be reporting to the Executive Committee of the HKCTA pending appointment of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Calvin Lai has been serving as the HKCTA Chief Operation Officer since 2024 and more recently as the Acting CEO. Calvin has indicated his intention to leave the HKCTA. Over the last two years Calvin was instrumental in enhancing the governance of HKCTA and the HKCTA Council would like to thank him for his service.
Separately Peter Johnston who has been overseeing the delivery of the international events will be taking on an expanded coverage as Director of International Strategy. Peter will continue to stay involved as part of the senior management team of the Hong Kong Tennis Season and will take on an expanded remit to formulate the international strategy of HKCTA ranging from serving as an adviser and liaison with ATP and WTA, scouting of tennis events and experts, international acquisition etc. Peter reports to the Hong Kong Tennis Season Steering Committee of HKCTA.
B. Technical Department
In regard to the Technical Department, Steven Host recently resigned from HKSI as the Director of Player Development and Tennis Operations; and along with Darko Mihajlovic as the Head Coach of HKSI Performance Program. We are pleased to announce the management structure of the Technical Department with immediate effect.
Samual Chan, High Performance Administrative Manager of HKSI (Closer collaboration with HKSI re Tennis Operations)
We have been actively discussing the overall strategy for Hong Kong elite tennis with HKSI. Samual is currently the High Performance Administrative Manager of HKSI, with direct responsibility for the high-performance groups, including the HKSI full-time and part-time athletes, and the College Group.
Effective immediately, he is granted the authority to lead the formulation of all aspects of the national participation strategy for tennis, taking on the duties akin to the role of Director of Tennis Operations. In this capacity, he will work with Yoann Le Mée, Ahmed El Menshawy, Alvin Yip, Allen Xu, Shane Dunn, Romain Deffet and Denis De Mingo (coaching bench) to supervise the other departments, in ensuring the national participation strategy is implemented coherently across the HKCTA.
We believe that having the right, internationally benchmarked governance structure in place is key to activating tennis in Hong Kong. Samual, having served the sports sector for close to three decades, including twenty-four years at HKSI across multiple sports discipline, has been central to sports policy-making in Hong Kong. We believe his administrative experience and his deep understanding of the policy framework; and marrying the subject matter expertise of our coaching bench are fundamental to the construction by the HKCTA of a sustainable development pathway for tennis.
Yoann Le Mée, HKSI Coaching Coordinator (Acting)
Effectively immediately Yoann will take on the role to lead and organize the high performance program of HKSI. Yoann has a focus on the full time group of ETG players and will work alongside Ahmed El Menshawy in harmonizing the training program with the part time group of ETG players. We identified a few areas of immediate focus. Yoann will also take on an additional coverage responsibility serving as a liaison contact of ETG players (centralized and decentralized) with a view to improve communication; and will work with Samual and take on the additional function to formulating the longer term high performance strategy of Team Hong Kong.
We enclose a structure chart setting out the aforementioned management changes.
We are confident having the right management bench in place we can effectively embark on the next phase of the transformation strategy of HKCTA. Please join us in congratulating the individuals in their respective appointments.
By order of HKCTA Council
Dated: 23 January 2026