2025 MSO Sands China Cup–Greater Bay Area Badminton Invitational took place at the Macao East Asia Games Dome in Cotai on August 9, with the debut of the one-day tournament having gathered over 200 athletes from Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau, according to a statement from integrated resort operator Sands China on Thursday.
Athletes comprised those from the Guangdong Special Olympics Badminton Team, Special Olympics Hong Kong Team, and Macau Special Olympics (MSO), the statement said. Assistance was also provided by 60 volunteers including Sands Cares Ambassadors, the Scout Association of Macau, Macau Baptist College, and the MSO Ambassador programme, the statement noted.
The recent tournament featured over 90 matches, with 25 awards, sponsored by Sands China, presented. It was held in line with the 12th National Games for Persons with Disabilities and the 9th National Special Olympic Games slated for December.
Accommodation at The Londoner Grand and a tour of its resorts for the Guangdong and Hong Kong teams, among other activities, were also organised by the company.
The statement quoted Sands China Executive Vice Chairman Wilfred Wong Ying-wai as saying: “For 11 years now, we have been privileged to support the Macau Special Olympics Healthy Athletes programme, as we continue to promote inclusion, sports and public health by providing vital resources and support to the MSO athletes”.
Wong added that the tournament demonstrates the “boundless nature” of sport and “provides a valuable cross-regional platform for skills exchange among athletes”.
Sands China has supported the programme, which has provided over 7,000 health screenings for individuals with intellectual disabilities in Macau and funded follow-up medical care for over 850 individual, since 2014.
Sands China also recently held two community events to expand the programme’s services into the Greater Bay Area (GBA), the statement said, holding “a series of health screenings for athletes slated to compete in the National Special Olympic Games”, hoping to raise “public awareness of the physical and mental health development of people with intellectual disabilities”.
These comprised the 2025 Greater Bay Area Special Needs Healthcare Day on June 20 at Guangdong Lingnan Modern Technician College, and the 2025 Special Olympics Community – Healthy Athletes Programme on July 12 at Escola São Paulo in which nearly 100 individuals with intellectual disabilities participated.
The July 12 event also saw Sands present a ceremonial cheque for 708,700 patacas to MSO towards three key areas: continuing the company’s funding of the programme, helping the Macau Special Olympics Badminton Team prepare for the National Games for Persons with Disabilities and the National Special Olympics Games; and it also helped sponsor the MSO Sands China Cup and funded a professional pre-competition training programme.
This handout photo taken on August 9 and provided on Thursday by Sands China shows athletes and volunteers posing with guests and representatives during the one-day 2025 MSO Sands China Cup – Greater Bay Area Badminton Invitational.
