Ng Sze Kwong ended the initial dominance of H.A. Nisbet and S.E. Green when he won six straight men’s singles crowns at the Hong Kong Grass Court Championships from 1918-1923. In doing so, he was the first local Chinese to win the Hong Kong title. In the doubles, he partnered Wong Po Keung to win the first three editions from 1917-1919 and again with Wei Wing Lock to claim back-to-back titles in from 1922-1923. He also represented China in the Far Eastern Games in Shanghai in 1921 (Tennis Captain) and Osaka in 1923. He was selected to China’s Olympic men’s lawn tennis team for Paris 1924 that comprised Wei Wing Lock, Ng Sze Cheung, and Penang-raised Khoo Hooi-Hye, forming the first-ever Chinese delegation sent to compete at the Olympiad. Ng was slated to face Augustos Zerlendis of Greece in the first round of the men’s singles. In men’s doubles, Ng Sze Kwong and Wei Wing Lock received a bye and were supposed to face Finland’s Runar Granholm and Boris Schildtwere in the second round.
However, for reasons unknown, none of the four took part in the end. Page 378 of the Official Report of the Games of the VIII Olympiad, Paris, 1924 stated that: “There was only one forfait général, this one from China, and in addition to the four Chinese, Casanovas (Portugal), Babas (Yugoslavia), Colombo (Italy), Norman Brookes (Australia), Sabbadini (Italy) and Stern (Romania) were no-shows, which meant a walkover for their designated opponents.” While in www.olympics.com’s online database, all the aforementioned players were recorded as “did not start”.
Ng Sze Kwong would return to play in Hong Kong again, finishing runner-up in 1927 to S.A. Rumjahn, who went on to capture four more singles titles at the Hong Kong Grass Court Championships. In 1928, the China National Amateur Athletic Federation announced the appointment of Ng Sze Kwong as the Davis Cup Captain to lead the team against the United States. Ng was also invited to join China’s Davis Cup Selection Committee to assist in choosing the 1935 team. As a pioneer of Chinese sportsmen to hold prominent positions in various clubs and associations, Ng had been President of the Hong Kong-Chinese Amateur Athletic Federation, All China Lawn Tennis Association and, from 1921-1930, Chairman of the Chinese Recreation Club.
Local Majors
Men’s Singles
Hong Kong Grass Court Championships
1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923
Men’s Doubles
Hong Kong Grass Court Championships
1917 1918 1919 1922 1923