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Biography of China Open Tournament Director Lincoln Venancio

He's helping make sports history in China, but you'd never believe it if you casually viewed Lincoln Venancio's easy, relaxed business style.

A native of Rio de Janeiro, Venancio, 41, tournament director of the China Open, is the managing director of Media Serv Asia Pacific Limited under Hong Kong's TOM Group Limited. He has an ownership interest in Media Serv, and he has been involved in the sports marketing business in Hong Kong since 1988.

He said he started his business "to pursue these kinds of efforts and to develop sponsorships. "I've been in the business for 18 years now, always in Asia."

Prior to establishing his business, Venancio, who has played tennis for most of his life, coached tennis and toured China with his players for ten months during the early to mid-1980s. He has a longstanding relationship with the Chinese Tennis Association, and has long sought to develop tennis on the Chinese mainland, particularly at the juniors level. He coached the Greek Olympic women's tennis team in 1988.

He is a history and psychology graduate of Limestone College, a small liberal arts college located in South Carolina in the United States.

During his time in Hong Kong, the bachelor Venancio has helped organize more than 500 sporting events, including the prestigious ATP men's Salem Open tennis tournament in Hong Kong, the Thailand Open tennis tournament, the Martell Skins Golf Classic in Taiwan, and other tennis, golf, football, basketball, badminton, diving, volleyball and table tennis events. He also has experience in motor racing, and speaks about sports marketing when given a chance.

But nothing he's done before compares to the magnitude of the China Open.

"I never thought an opportunity like this would happen," he said, "but everything has gone our way on this project. We got agreements from the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) and WTA (Women's Tennis Association). We are getting fantastic cooperation and support from the Chinese Ministry of Sports and the Beijing Municipal Government.

"On top of this, the emerging Chinese star Zhang Jie did well in the French Open, then two of the China Open's top draws, Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams, were in the Wimbledon final, and now China's Li Ting and Sun Tiantian have won an Olympic gold medal, after defeating the likes of Venus Williams and Chanda Rubin and Conchita Martinez and Virginia Ruano Pascal.

"All this tells me that now is the time for the China Open in Beijing."