The local official who heads the National Games Coordination Office on Sunday said test runs for cross-border sports events have shown there is room for improvement.

Hong Kong is set to co-host the November Games with Guangdong and Macau for the first time, and will host events for eight sports, including fencing and basketball.

Yeung Tak-keung told a radio programme that organisers are working to improve cross-border marathon and road cycling events, particularly in supporting athletes who lag behind the leading group.

"We found that for some of the arrangements we can make further improvements, like how to support our athletes, and how to monitor [them]," he told reporters after the radio show.

"During the road cycling and marathon [events], sometimes there may be a distance [between] the leading group and the other athletes – they may be not so close together. So how we can provide better support to them, that is one area that we think we can further improve."

The Games will also feature 23 mass participation events, including bowling which will be hosted by the SAR.

Local selections will take place in April and successful candidates can compete with bowlers from other Greater Bay Area cities in the finals in August.

Yeung added that officials are still working out the pricing for tickets but promised they will be affordable.