The 20thedition of the Volvo China Open was officially opened on Tuesday afternoon at the Genzon Golf Club in Shenzen as two of golf’s most recognisable stars, Jason Dufner and Ian Poulter, took on three legends of table tennis, a hugely popular sport in China, during the opening ceremony.
Former world champions Jan-Ove Waldner and Jörgen Persson, both from Sweden, and the host nation’s Jiang Jialiang, took on Ryder Cup stars Poulter and Duffner on a specially erected table by the 18thgreen.
They were also joined in the festivities by three of China’s established and emerging golfing stars, Zhang Lian-wei who has played in the event every year, Wu Ashun who is currently the Chinese number two, and young amateur Dou Ze-cheng who remarkably finished as the leading Chinese player last year.
Representing the host venue was the President of the Shenzhen Genzon Group, Deng Xue Qin. He was joined in the speech-making by Yue Chuan Jiang, the Director of Culture, Sports and Tourism Administration for the Shenzhen Municipality, and by Zhang Xaio Ning, the Director General of Multi-ball Games Administration Centre of the General Administration of Sport who is also the Vice President and Secretary General of the China Golf Association. They joined Per Ericsson, President of Volvo Event Management, in looking forward to an exciting and entertaining week of top-quality golf.
