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Hundreds of budding sports stars are descending on Hainan in China this week as Mission Hills Haikou joins forces with FC Barcelona, NBA and the PGA Tour China for a fortnight of elite level competition and training.
China’s international qualifying tournament for the PAG Tour is taking place this week, as the first of two back-to-back qualifiers on Mission Hills Haikou’s Sandbelt Trails Course, tees off.
At the same time FC Barcelona and the NBA are sending their elite coaches to Haikou to host training camps in football and basketball.
“More than 500 young men and women will be in Mission Hills Haikou this week as they pursue their dreams in golf, football and basketball,” said Tenniel Chu, vice chairman of the Mission Hills Group.
“By partnering with the world’s most famous sporting organisations in FC Barcelona, the NBA and the PGA Tour we are providing the very best opportunities and support for China’s next generation of sporting stars.”
The top-15 finishers on each of the 72-hole PGA Tour Series, China, qualifiers will earn full cards on the 2018 PGA Tour Series, China, and hope to follow the path taken by China’s 2016 order of merit winner Dou Zecheng, who went on to earn his card for the PGA Tour in 2017.
NBA China will host a basketball camp at Mission Hills Haikou for the first time.
Budding basketball players aged six to 18 will be trained by NBA-level coaches on the fundamentals of the game, learning the same skills and drills that are practiced by the top players in the game.
The camp follows the announcement last year that Mission Hills Group and NBA China have agreed a multiyear partnership to design, develop and operate China’s first NBA Basketball School as well as an NBA interactive experience and store on the international tourism island of Hainan.
Five-time NBA Champion and 18-time NBA All-Star Kobe Bryant was in Haikou in September for the announcement.
FC Barcelona will host its second football camp since opening its ‘FCB Escola’ at Mission Hills Haikou.
More than 600 students attended the first camp last summer and three were singled out by the world’s most famous football club for more training at its headquarters in Barcelona.
The FCB Escola in Hainan is located at the new Mission Hills Football Training Base which, when fully complete, will span 345,000 square meters, including 20 football pitches and state-of-the-art facilities.
With football superstar Ronaldinho in attendance in 2017, FC Barcelona and Mission Hills also announced the club’s first overseas interactive FC Barcelona experience area, scheduled to open this year.
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