Diving queen Guo Jingjing, shuttler Lin Dan, table tennis star Wang Hao, judokas Yang Xiuli - all gold medallists at the Beijing Olympic Games - as well as hurdles ace Liu Xiang and swimmer Zhang Lin, are expected to be among the mainland athletes named today to take part in next month's Hong Kong extravaganza.
The first ever multi-sport games to be held here from December 5 to 13, will feature 2,300 athletes from the mainland, Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Taiwan, Mongolia, Macau, Guam and Hong Kong.
The mainland, the world's top sporting powerhouse as proved at the Olympic Games last year, will be represented by a delegation of over 600 members, while Hong Kong will present a squad of 380 - the largest ever for Hong Kong at a major games.
Hong Kong have entered all 22 events, with Wong Kam-po (cycling), Zhou Mi (badminton), Marco Fu Ka-chun (snooker), Chan King-yin (windsurfing) and Rebecca Chiu Wing-yin (squash) all major medal hopefuls.
Organisers were tight-lipped about the list of participants yesterday and chief executive of the EAG Company, Johnny Woo Wai-man, said there would be a lot of surprises when the athletes were revealed.
'We can promise there will be some great competitions as the event features the top three sporting countries of the region - China, Japan and South Korea,' he said. 'Tickets for 10 events have sold out, while fewer than 100 tickets are still available for athletics and shooting.'