招偉立

English

Chiu Wai Lap, also known as Abby, was born on 28 October 1984 and is a Hong Kong contract bridge player. He first took an interest in bridge at the age of 11 and began competing in local and international events from the age of 14, and over the years has also served frequently as a bridge referee, coach and team manager. In 2023 he was chosen for the Hong Kong men's team at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, playing with Ho Hoi Tung, Ho Wai Lam, Lai Wai Kit, Mak Kwok Fai and Sze Shun Sum. The bridge competition featured men's, women's and mixed team events and ran from 27 September to 6 October; Hong Kong beat Japan in the semi-final and, in the men's team final played over two days and six sessions, led 131.1 to 91 after the first day before defeating India 229.1 to 152, winning five of the six sessions (the last three finishing 42-32, 38-17 and 17-12), to claim Hong Kong's first Asian Games gold in bridge. That gold was the delegation's eighth of the Games, matching the eight won at Jakarta in 2018, and the city's first victory in a mind sport at the Asian Games; the delegation took 53 medals in all - eight gold, 16 silver and 29 bronze - its largest haul ever. Away from the table, Chiu is an active promoter of bridge: he is a vice-chairman of the Hong Kong, China Contract Bridge Association and in 2019 founded the Hong Kong Academy of Bridge, the city's first bridge school, and has sponsored events including the Asia Pacific Bridge Championships and several editions of the Hong Kong Inter-City Bridge Championships. He has noted that five of Hong Kong's six-man gold-medal team were part-time players with an average of about 30 years' experience, making the win over full-time opponents from Japan, China and India all the more significant.