Hong Kong teams take first steps towards world stage with vital Asian series wins
Strong showings for men’s and women’s squads in Hangzhou put them in promising position ahead of second leg in Colombo
Hong Kong women’s rugby sevens star Nam Ka-man said her team were “super-proud” after the city’s teams took positive first steps towards the distant goal of reaching global sevens’ elite level this season.
Nam and her teammates staged a late comeback in Hangzhou on Sunday to beat Thailand 19-17 in a gripping Asia Rugby Sevens Series third-place play-off.
That meant they finished behind only Japan and China, both of whom had already qualified for the revised HSBC SVNS calendar.
With that placing, Hong Kong have the inside running to be the next best side over two Asian series legs, which would give them a spot in January’s single-leg HSBC SVNS 3. The second Asian leg is set for Colombo on October 18 and 19.
Nam said they were “super-proud of the result”.
“We have learned a lot,” she said. “Moving forward to the next leg, we need to focus on ourselves. We’ll have a good squad to compete.”