Do you enjoy getting together with your buddies over a game of pool? Or are you an avid cyclist with a daredevil streak? If so, this year's East Asian Games is just the sporting event that you might want to follow. From December 5 to 13, Hong Kong will be hosting over 3,000 athletes who will compete in the games. With seven new additions, the total of 23 participating sports is a record in the EAG history and so this year’s edition of games should be the most exciting yet. bc previews the newcomers which will, no doubt, attract a number of people who might have not thought of visiting the games otherwise.

Cue Sports
Cue sports in the EAG comprises pool, billiards, carom and snooker, the latter consisting of 15-red snooker singles and six-red snooker singles competitions. Snooker players and their friends will be most familiar with the common 15-red singles played with a white cue ball, 15 red balls worth one point each, and six other balls of varying colours and values. The six-red snooker singles is more of an oddity – allowing only six red balls in play, it is, of course, much faster than its counterpart. In all, competitors in cue sports will vie for eight gold medals.

Table Tennis
Table tennis has been an Olympic sport since 1988 and is among the most popular sports around the world – and especially in China. It is surprising, therefore, that it has

n’t been included in the EAG before. Better late than never, though, and in its debut this year, the game will feature seven events including men’s and women’s singles, doubles, team and mixed doubles. The men’s and women’s team events will be played on a round-robin basis in the first stage, while the second stage – like all other individual events – will be contested by knock-out.

Cycling
Road racing, BMX and indoor cycling have also made tracks into the EAG line-up this year, with 10 events in all. The cycling road race will include men’s and women’s individual road race and men’s team time trial. In the individual road races, all cyclists will start together but be classified according to their order of crossing the finishing line. Teams of four riders will set off at intervals of two to three minutes in the team time trial, each team being timed for classification at the finish when its third rider crosses the line. In the men’s and women’s BMX events, riders will have to navigate obstacles on a 300-400m track, the first to cross the finishing line wins.

Indoor cycling may be the most intriguing of all the cycling events to watch. For instance, in the single artistic cycling competition, riders must race gracefully through a maximum of 30 figures in five minutes – in the same time, pairs will have to show off 25 maneuvers. The indoor contest also features men’s and women’s individual events and men’s cycle ball, a kind of ‘bikes with boots’ in which two teams of a couple of players each try to ‘kick’ a ball into the opposition’s goal with their bike. As in soccer, the team with the most goals at the end wins.

Windsurfing
An easterly blows windsurfing into the EAG competition for the first time this year as well. The medals race will be the last of the day and will be contested after a number of ‘heats’ over a designated route. In each heat, competitors will be awarded points according their rank in the heat – a winner gets a single point, second lands two and so on. The 10 surfers with the lowest scores at the end of the heats will contest the medal race, which scores double points – and the gongs go to those with the lowest cumulative scores at the end of the day.

Bodybuilding
Well-developed muscles and a balanced and symmetrical body – don’t we all wish that described us. Those less lazy than most of us and who have sweated blood and tears to develop their musculature will be showing it all off in 19 EAG events for both men and women, including the Ms Fitness and Ms Body Fitness contests. Each of the ladies in the Ms Body Fitness will have to parade her athletic physique in a two-piece bikini and a one-piece swimsuit, while those in the Ms Fitness competition will not only have to flaunt their bodies in bikinis but also convince the judges (and audience) of their style, personality, co-ordination and overall performance skills in a fitness routine to music of their choice. And then, of course, there are the Arnie wannabes…

Rugby Sevens
What do you know? – One of Hong Kong’s most popular sporting events has found its way into the East Asian Games. Both men’s and women’s tournaments will be played in the Rugby Sevens competition – although each team has 12 players, only seven will be on the field at any one time. Games will normally be played in seven-minute halves with a two-minute interval, though the finals will go for 10 minutes each half, with a two-minute interval. And if you don’t already know, a try in Rugby Sevens scores five points, a conversion two points and penalty and drop goals three points each.

Squash
And those who like hitting little rubber balls against four tall walls will be delighted to know that squash is also now on the EAG competitions list. Men’s and women’s team, singles and doubles as well as mixed doubles events all find their way onto the programme, to be played variously at the Hong Kong Squash Centre, Aberdeen Tennis and Squash Centre and the Hong Kong Park Sports Centre. Perhaps most visually delicious will be the portable clear-view squash court planned for the semi-finals and finals at the Hong Kong Park Sports Centre. You just have to be there.

Photos: 2009 East Asian Games Limited, HK Rugby