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Japan Beat China by 9 Wickets @KCC – 31 October, 2105

Japan faced little trouble in their East Asia Series: Men’s Twenty20 Championship match against China as they cruised to a convincing nine-wicket win at the Kowloon Cricket Club on Saturday.

Despite a rain shower or two in the morning, the sun greeted China and Japan as they walked out onto the field. China captain Wang Zihao won the toss and had no hesitation in batting first on a belter of a wicket.

However, his decision to do so backfired as opening batsman Lin Zhengpei was cleaned bowled by Nozomi Tomizawa for a three-ball duck. Zhengpei’s wicket was the start of a recurring theme for the Chinese team as their batsmen struggled to get accustomed to the pitch and scorching conditions.

To make things worse, there was a lack of communication between the Chinese batsmen on numerous occasions, which led to three of them getting run out. In the end, captain Wang Zihao, who was the last man in, top-scored for China with six not out as his side were skittled out for 56.

Makoto Taniyama, Tsuyoshi Takada and Kohei Wakita picked up two wickets apiece, while Tomizawa chipped in with one.

Chasing 57 to win, Japan got off to a blistering start and were cruising towards the finish line until Muhammad Khan was dismissed by Song Yulin for a quickfire 23. Noatsune Miyaji and skipper Masaomi Kobayashi mopped up the remaining runs to lead Japan to a comfortable nine-wicket win.

Taniyama was named Man of the Match for his superb figures of 2/5 off four overs.

At KCC: Japan beat China by 9 wickets

Japan
Masaomi Kobayashi (Captain), Tomoki Ota (Vice Captain), Kanadage Supun Tharaka Navarathna, Kohei Wakita, Makoto Taniyama, Muhammad Hanif Khan, Naotsune Miyaji, Nozomi Tomizawa, Raheel Kano, Satoshi Nakano, Takuro Hagihara, Tsuyoshi Takada, Yoshitaka Uehara
Coach: Dhugal John Bedingfield

China
Wang Zihao, Han Junhui, Tian Suqing, Song Yulin, Geng Changyue, Lin Zhengpei, Chen Xiaoran, Chen Jinfeng, Lin Zhihong, Zhong Wenyi, Qing Peng, Pu Xianliang, Lu Cangcang, Feng Yu.
Team Manager: Shen Gang, Coach: Feng Jian

Hong Kong ‘A’ beat HKCA Dragons by 40 Runs – 30 October, 2015

Pleasant conditions greeted the two teams for the opening match of the East-Asia T20 Championships. Hong Kong Dragons skipper Ady Lee won the toss and elected to field first.

The Dragons kept the powerful Hong Kong A batsmen to a reasonable 1/39 after the power play with the skipper the best of the bowlers with only 11 runs off his 3 overs including the wicket of left handed opening batsmen Ninad Shah with a superb off cutter.

The going was tough for the ‘A’ side as they struggled to rotate the strike with Jonathan Foo entering the attack with his crafty off spin. Hong Kong ‘A’ keeper Chris Carter found it tough against the spin of Foo making only 6 off 23 deliveries before being trapped on the crease for LBW.

Hong Kong ‘A’ needed some intent and to build some pressure against the Dragons. Entered former national vice captain in Waqas Barkat who built a strong foundation with opener Raag Kapur before he went for a well-made 52 and continued on with Awais Mohammad, the pair then putting on a quick fire 38.

However the Dragons made it tough for themselves after dropping Waqas Barkat three times, all when he was in single figures. Hong Kong ‘A’ still struggled to find the gaps and boundaries only reaching their 100 at the end of the 17th over.

However, Barkat then smashed the Dragons death bowlers for four boundaries and two towering sixes straight down the ground. The last three overs went for 42 runs and is an area the Dragons will need to improve on if they are to challenge for the title.

Hong Kong ‘A’ set a respectable 143 for victory and started well with the ball as they took three early wickets. National Squad member Adil Mehmood bowled with some pace that Dragons hadn’t really experienced previously and were looking in trouble at 3/10.

Enter the Caribbean Premier League star Jonathan Foo who hit his first ball blistering down the ground for four of Mehmood, Foo combined with Wai pilled on a quick 40 runs in just 5 overs. The two of them smashing 3 sixes and 3 fours in the 40 run partnership to take the Dragons to 4/50 in the 9th over.

Requiring over 8 an over for victory, Foo continued the challenge to the bowlers as he mixed brutal strength and timing to smash 68 off just 38 balls before miss timing a on drive to provide an easy catch at point off Lamplough, who finished the innings by taking the final two wickets and restricting the Hong Kong Dragons to 102 all out in the 20th over.

Scores in Brief: Hong Kong ‘A’ 4/142 (Kapur 52, Barkat 40*, Awais 22, Foo 1/7, Lee 1/25) defeated Hong Kong Dragons 102 (Foo 68, Wai 21, Lamplough 4/11 Mehmood 1/8, M.Khan 1/16) by 40 runs

Man of the Match: Jonathan Foo

At Tin Kwong Road Recreation Ground Hong Kong ‘A’ beat HKCA Dragons by 40 Runs

Hong Kong ‘A’
Waqas Barkat (Captain), Giacomo Lamplough (Vice Captain), Adil Mehmood, Awais Mohammad, Akbar Khan, Chris Carter, Daljeet Singh, Ehsan Nawaz, Mohammad Huzafah, Mohsin Khan, Ninad Shah, Raag Kapur, Saad Mohammod, Simandeep Singh, Tanveer Ahmed, Waqas Khan.
Coach: Jawaid Iqbal, Assistant Coach: Tanwir Afzal

HKCA Dragons
Ady Lee (Captain), Jet Lee, Anthony Marrin, Bobby Chan Ka Ming, Colin Lau, Damien Yee, Danny Lee, Eddy Ang, James Chan, Jonathan Foo, Rob Lee, Ron Lau, Li Kai Ming, Michael Zheng, Nigel Sun, Simon Hung.
Coach: Chris Pickett

Japan Beat HK Cricket Club by 40 Runs

Warm and fine conditions greeted the players at Hong Kong Cricket Club where the home team hosted Japan in a 35-over per side warm-up game for the East Asia Series: Men’s Twenty20 Championship.

Japan batted first and their innings got off to a flying start with Muhammad Khan taking the long handle to the HKCC opening bowling attack featuring Mariko Hill. Hill’s four over spell cost 44 runs but she did manage to pick up the wicket of Naotsune Miyaji who top-edged a pull shot and was caught by Ravi Achan for 4. Belan Aiyadorai was belted for 32 off his two overs and Tom Ingram went for 40 from 5 as Japan rattled along at over ten runs per over. Ingram eventually got the dangerous Khan, gloving a pull-shot behind to keeper Tom Menogue for a belligerent 59. Japan’s skipper Masaoni Kobayashi was next to fall when leg-spinner Jhathevedh Subramanyan grabbed a brilliant one-handed return catch. Kanadage Navarathna (34) and Tomoki Ota (38) batted well in the middle overs before Ravi Achan picked up two wickets in quick succession for HKCC. Tsuyoshi Takada boosted Japan’s total with 26 but he was trapped LBW off the bowling of Harry Ledger. Japan was eventually dismissed for 215 from 35 overs.
For HKCC, Ravi Achan and Brenton McDonald claimed 2/15 and 2/27 respectively.

HKCC’s reply got off to a solid start with skipper Isaac Poole and Jhathavedh Subramanyan initiating the run chase. But just as their partnership looked set to flourish, Poole was dismissed by Nozomi Tomizawa for 12. Tom Menogue was caught by Navarathna for 13 and then Raheel Kano claimed three quick wickets to knock the stuffing out of the HKCC middle order. Meanwhile Jhathavedh was batting with maturity beyond his 16 years and he single-handedly kept the HKCC run-chase going as wickets tumbled at the other end. Mariko Hill chipped in with a confident 13 and Harry Ledger struck 16 but none of the HKCC batters were able to stay with Jhathavedh for any length of time. The HKCC innings was wrapped up after 32 overs for 175 with Jhathavedh carrying his bat for a fine unbeaten 83.
For Japan, Raheel Kano picked up 3/17 from four over spell while Naotsune Miyaji claimed 2/16, also from four overs.

At HKCC: Japan 215 from 35 overs beat HKCC 175 from 32 overs by 40 runs.

Women’s Super Series

This weekend marks the first matches in the new HKRU Women’s Super Series. The Series has been launched this season to provide an opportunity for performance players to compete in a domestic representative 15-a-side competition. The aim is to bridge the gap between Club and International rugby and to identify performance players for the future.

The Super Series sees the top 66 players from the Premiership clubs grouped into three representative sides. The sides will play each other on three weekends during the season. Each Premiership club coach is able to nominate six players for the competition; nominated players do not have to be qualified to play for Hong Kong and can still participate if they have played representative rugby in other countries. Each player will be assigned to one of the teams for the duration of the competition.

With performance top of mind, the teams will be coached by the HKRU Women’s Performance coaching team. This weekend’s Series kick-off features the Scorpions, coached by Chris Garvey, Hong Kong’s Assistant National Women’s XVs coach and the Vipers, coached by Hong Kong Rugby Union National Performance Coach (Development), Lai Yiu Pang. The third Super Series side will be coached by Hong Kong Women’s Sevens coach and former New Zealand Black Fern Anna Richards and Valley stalwart Dean Herewini.

The Scorpions and Vipers feature an assembly of top Hong Kong Women’s Rugby players including captain Colleen Tjosvold and vice captain Martini Ip for the Vipers, who also boast Adrienne Garvey and Hong Kong U20s captain Aileen Ryan, part of eight Hong Kong XVs caps in the squad.

Chow Mei Nam and Rebecca Thompson are the captain and vice captain of the Scorpions respectively, with Karen So and Melody Li strengthening the squad which features seven Hong Kong XVs players.

Scorpions v Vipers
@Kings Park, kick-off 10:30

HKRU Women’s Premiership Super Series Squads
Scorpions:
1. Shonagh RYAN, 2. SO Karen Hoi Ting, 3. LAU Nga Wun, 4. Melody LI, 5. CHENG Ching To, 6. Bobby WILSON, 7. LO Wai Yan, 8. CHOW Mei Nam (Captain), 9. LAU Tsz Ying, 10. CHEUNG Lok Tung, 11. CHAN Stephanie Chor Ki, 12. Rebecca THOMPSON (Vice-Captain), 13. CHAU Hei Tung, 14. Tina CHIU, 15. LEE For Wing, 16. PONG Shun Sze, 17. LAI Ming Yan, 18. LAM Ka Wai, 19. TSANG Sharon Shin Yuen, 20. LI Man Yi, 21. HAU Kwan Yi.

Vipers:
1. YIP ho Kwan, 2. SIU Wing Ni, 3. LEE Ka Shun, 4 CHAN Ka Yan, 5. AU YEUNG Tsz Lam, 6. CHEUNG Shuk Han, 7. LEUNG Wing Yi Vincci, 8. Martini IP (Vice-Captain), 9. CHAN Wing Yi, 10. Aileen RYAN, 11. TSANG Wing Chi, 12. Colleen TJOSVOLD (Captain), 13. Laurel FUNG Chor Lik, 14. LAU Sze Wa, 15. Adrienne GARVEY, 16. Megan RICHARDSON, 17. LEUNG Hei Nga, 18 LI Lei Man, 19. Daisy MYERS, 20. PUN Wai Yan, 21. Emma SHIELDS.

Source: HKRU

Women’s Rugby Fixtures – 31 October, 2015

Women’s Rugby Results – 24 October, 2015

Premiership
Kowloon 0-69 Gai Wu Falcons
@ So Kon Po, Kick-off: 16:30
HKFC Ice 0-51 Valley Black
@ HK Football Club, Kick-off: 18:00
CWB Phoenix 16-7 Tai Po
@ So Kon Po, Kick-off: 18:00

National League 1
HK Scottish 7-14 Gai Wu Fawkes
@ So Kon Po, Kick-off: 15:00
HKCC 5-29 City
@ Tai Hang Tun, Kick-off: 16:30
HKCC: Joanna Harvey, Joan Yip, Nobuko Oda, Lauren Petersen, Isabella Rivers, Wendy Sham, Cheryl Gourley, Lynda Nazer, Emma Chung, Tinley Wong, Yana Dimitrova, Lucy Thomson, Tissia Polycarpe, Zoe Wong, Diana Li
Substitues: Kassie Chapel, Katie Rowbottom, Wawa Li, Angie Ng, Charlotte Berry, Christy Ma, Elane Lau, Hoi Yi Li, Lainie Man
Try: Yana Dimitrova
HKFC Fire v Valley Red
@ HK Football Club, Kick-off: 16:30
SRC 0-17 USRC Tigers
@ King’s Park, Kick-off: 18:00
Police 27-0 Tai Po Dragons
@ Police Boundary Street, Kick-off: 18:00

Photo: Panda Man

Match Report: HKCC 5-29 City – 24 October, 2015

Round 4 concluded an emotional week for HKCC with the passing of player Tom Nelson and with only 1 victory the HKCC Ladies knew they needed to play their best to win against an undefeated City.

After a minute silence HKCC Ladies kicked off and the ball bounced along the dusty pitch straight into the possession of City, who didn’t waste any time before launching an attack. City drew in the HKCC forwards before passing it out wide to the backs. The City fullback danced her way through the defence and quickly popped it off to the winger who comfortably ran round HKCC’s fullback and placed the ball under the posts. The try was easily converted and within minutes of starting City had set the precedent for the rest of the half.

Another HKCC kick off and much to their dismay similar phases took place with the City backs tearing through the HKCC defence and scoring another try. HKCC picked themselves up and kicked back into the City half. After some hard hitting tackles and scrapping in clouds of dust, HKCC won the ball and began their first serious attack of the game. Yet after too few phases HKCC again lost possession and with a big boot City cleared their lines, putting the HKCC fullback under pressure.

City mercilessly pummeled the HKCC defence and it was not long before another breakthrough ensued. This time much to HKCC’s relief, excellent pressure from scrumhalf Emma Chung led to City knocking the ball on over the try line. HKCC were awarded a scrum which led to a good pick up and hand off from number 8 Lynda Nazer, gaining much needed ground. Nevertheless momentum dropped, City regained possession and once again relied on their backs to successfully score a try in the far right corner.

HKCC kicked off and charged into the City half ready to wrestle for possession. After some phases of play with HKCC absorbing the hits, Comvita booted the ball to clear the lines, but this time the ball was effortlessly picked up by Tissia Polycarpe who ran it out of her own half. The HKCC scrums were working well and turned the ball over more than once yet it was not enough to get HKCC points on the board. City struck twice again before the half time whistle blew, ending the half at 29-0.

After motivational words from coach Alex Tarleton and a reassessment of the game, the HKCC Ladies knew they could do better and were eager to demonstrate this.

City kicked off giving HKCC possession and a chance to attack. With new energy and some strong running, particularly from second row Lauren Petersen who needed at least two City players tackling her to be tamed, HKCC clawed their way up the pitch. Before long and for the first time in the match, HKCC had City pinned against their own try line. Foul play from Comvita led to two yellow cards, something that HKCC were happy to take advantage of. A penalty gave HKCC forwards the ball but unable to break through they passed it out wide to the backs. Winger Yana Dimitrova took this opportunity and skillfully scored a HKCC try in the far right corner.

HKCC received the kick and attempted to move up into the City half but the two teams seemed stuck in a stalemate, tirelessly fighting back and forth but neither giving ground. The fulltime whistle blew leaving the result at 29-5.

Contrary to their usual solid defence, the first half consisted of too many missed tackles and sloppy defending from HKCC, which City’s fast paced backs confidently exploited. The second half however was a completely different game, with HKCC keeping City’s attack at bay and working tirelessly to gain a well-earned 5 points, the only points scored in the second half. The HKCC Ladies look forward to proving themselves in the upcoming fixture against Tai Po Dragons.

HKCC Ladies
Forward of the Match: Joan Yip
Back of the Match: Tissia Polycarpe

HKCC 5-29. Comvita City
HKCC: Joanna Harvey, Joan Yip, Nobuko Oda, Lauren Petersen, Isabella Rivers, Wendy Sham, Cheryl Gourley, Lynda Nazer, Emma Chung, Tinley Wong, Yana Dimitrova, Lucy Thomson, Tissia Polycarpe, Zoe Wong, Diana Li
Substitues: Kassie Chapel, Katie Rowbottom, Wawa Li, Angie Ng, Charlotte Berry, Christy Ma, Elane Lau, Hoi Yi Li, Lainie Man
Try: Yana Dimitrova

Premiership Match Report: HKFC Ice 0-51 Valley Black – 24 October, 2015

It was a highly anticipated game on Saturday for HKFC Ice, as they took on defending champions Valley Black. Near perfect weather conditions and a home advantage were unable to settle those nerves, and Valley showed they meant business with a try in the second minute of the game. A great run by Valley resulted in another try and HKFC Ice knew they were going to have to put up a big fight. Strong scrummaging and some formidable tackles by Grace Hood and Jamie Bourk were not enough to hold off their dynamic opponents, resulting in two further tries. With minutes to go until half time, Aileen Ryan was yellow carded for a deliberate offside after a 22 drop out and it wasn’t looking good for the home team.

As the second half kicked off, it was still a battle between the pros and the newly promoted Ice. Despite several dropped passes, Valley scored once again leaving HKFC Ice well behind. With Aileen Ryan back on, HKFC Ice displayed some strong defensive moves, and tackles by Nicole Pang and Aysha Fiaz managed to slow down the rampant Valley Black attack. There were three more tries from Valley and then it was all over. HKFC Ice put up a valiant fight against the seasoned Valley Black and will surely use this experience to come back stronger than ever. Coach David Wigley said that he was proud of the performance that HKFC Ice put in against the defending Premiership champions Valley Black.

HKFC Ice 0-51 Valley Black
@ HK Football Club, Kick-off: 18:00
HKFC Ice: Denise Chan, Shonagh Ryan, Kim Kan, Zuzanna Osinska, Martina Colombo, Jamie Bourk, Iris Chan, Daisy Miers, Sophie Short, Aileen Ryan, Casey Gallagher, Nicole Pang, Grace Hood, Natalia Lech, Emma Shields
Substitutes: Carol Hung, Amy Kong, Aysha Fiaz, Madeline Adcock, Kim Lam, Stephanie Siu, Caroline Lau