Mission Hills Group has announced a list of international superstars from the worlds of sport, golf and entertainment who will play in the World Celebrity Pro-Am from October 18th-21st at Mission Hills in Haikou.

The 2012 World Celebrity Pro-Am will bring together superstar celebrities, sports legends and renowned golfers.

They include former NBA Star Yao Ming, who will be the event’s Charity Ambassador; Brazilian football superstar Ronaldo; Chinese gymnast and international businessman Li Ning; former world number one snooker player Stephen Hendry and past Masters Champion Ian Woosnam.

Other stars who have confirmed their attendance include famous film director Feng Xiaogang, He Ping and actors Wang Zhiwen, Chen Tao-ming, Zhang Guoli, Sun Nan, Leon Lai, Coco Lee, Charlie Young, Simon Yam and Michelle Chen.

Speaking in Shanghai today, Ken Chu, chairman and chief executive of Mission Hills Group said: “We firmly believe that the World Celebrity Pro-Am will take golf to a new level, not just in China but across the region.

“But this event is about more than golf. What we’re doing is creating general entertainment for people, so whether you’re into golf, football, acting or just watching celebrities, there’s going to be something for you.

“At Mission Hills we’ve always been committed to promoting international understanding through large-scale cultural and sporting events and the World Celebrity Pro-Am certainly follows this formula.”

Mission Hills also announced the formation of a tournament celebrity committee which, amongst other things, will be responsible for the event’s charitable activities.

Committee members include Chu; golfing legend Greg Norman; former chairman of CITIC Group and vice chairman of the China Golf Association, Wang Jun; Liu Changle, chairman of Phoenix Satellite Television Holdings; chairman of the Hong Kong Ocean Park Group and Lan Kwai Fong Group, Allan Zeman; Chinese film directors Feng Xiaogang and He Ping; legendary Chinese gymnast Li Ning; Hong Kong actor Eric Tsang and Sina chief executive Charles Chao.

The Yao Ming Foundation and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) will be charitable beneficiaries of the event.

Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima; the former FIFA World Cup winner, FIFA Player of the Year and the highest scorer in World Cup History, is known simply as “Ronaldo” around the world.

Speaking about the forthcoming event, the legend said: “I enjoy golf very much and playing at the World Celebrity Pro-Am at Mission Hills will be great fun. I’m really looking forward to coming to China and playing on Hainan Island.” 

The internationally acclaimed tournament was first staged in 2010 and has already become one of the region’s leading lifestyle and entertainment events.

It will adopt a new tournament format to make it more entertaining and fun.

The professional golfers will compete for a prize purse of US$1 million dollars.

Mission Hills Group will confirm more participating golfers and celebrities in the coming months.

Mission Hills Hainan is presently nominated as Asia’s Leading Family Resort at the prestigious World Travel Awards.