MIGUEL MINABRES, a former assistant to Real Madrid manager Rafael Benitez, joined the fourth round of the Mission Hills Footgolf Championship in Shenzhen on Sunday.

    The Spaniard said it was his first time trying footgolf. He said many Spanish soccer stars had tried footgolf and began to love the new sport.

    China may have a long way to go to match Spain’s soccer achievements, but the two countries don’t have much difference in the development of footgolf, Minabres said.

    He hopes China performs well in Footgolf World Cup 2016.

    The pair of Ji Jie and Liu Mengyang won the fourth round Sunday with a combined score of 60.

    Runners-up were Hu Zhiqiang and Zhang Yunlong while Huang Nanfu and Zhong Cheng claimed third place.

    The final of Mission Hills Footgolf Championship will be held next month, after which the champions will be presented with the opportunity to compete in the Footgolf World Cup 2016, to be held in Argentina from Jan. 6 to 10.

    Registered in Hong Kong in March, the China Footgolf Federation was officially established by the Mission Hills Group. The federation has won recognition from the World Footgolf Federation, qualifying China for the World Cup.(Windy Shao)