Jersey in their T20 debut thrash Hong Kong by 9 wickets at the ICC World T20 Qualifier
Category: sport
Hong Kong Plays for World T20 Spot at India2016
Hong Kong is among the fourteen Associate teams who will attempt to outwit, outplay and outlast one another in Ireland and Scotland at the World Twenty20 Qualifier. The six surviving teams after an intense 51-match event in 18 days will earn a ticket to India for the 2016 World Twenty20 next March. With the World T20 scaling back from a biennial event to once every four years from 2016 onwards – and no guaranteed places for Associates in the 50-over World Cup – there is even greater desperation in this tournament.
The event has been trimmed from 16 to 14 teams from the last time it was held in the UAE, while two playoff berths in the knockout stage have also been slashed. Now, only the top six from each group will advance to the playoffs. The respective table-toppers during the round-robin challenge receive immunity until the semi-finals as well as the prize of a guaranteed slot for the main event in India.
Sadly Duckworth-Lewis may play a massive role at this event. Consistent rain washed out many of the official warm-up matches and this may have teams wanting to bat last, with overs reduced and all 10 wickets in hand.
The Groups
Group A: Ireland, Nepal, Hong Kong, PNG, Namibia, USA, Jersey
Group B: Afghanistan, UAE, Netherlands, Scotland, Canada, Kenya, Oman
Hong Kong have had a steady build-up to the tournament, splitting a T20 series with Namibia in May before travelling to England. Irfan Ahmed who has struggled at the Associate tournaments in the past comes into this tournament in excellent touch. The squad is also boosted by the return of vice-captain Mark Chapman in the middle order. Hong Kong’s biggest asset is their pace bowling unit spearheaded by Ahmed, Aizaz Khan and captain Tanwir Afzal, who will all be a handful on seaming wickets.
Format
During the group stage each team will play each other, with 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw/no-result. The top six sides from the 18-day tournament during which 51 matches will be played, will join the 10 Full Members for the ICC World Twenty20 India 2016, which will be held from 11 March to 3 April 2016.
The sides that finish second and third in each of the two groups will play cross-over matches with the two winners joining the table-toppers for the India tournament. The losing sides of the two play-off matches will then play the fourth-placed sides from each of the two groups in cross-over matches with the winners completing the 16-team line-up for the ICC World Twenty20 India 2016.
Catch up with the action at www.icc-cricket.com or www.cricinfo.com
Hong Kong Squad
Tanwir Afzal (c), Mark Chapman (vc), Aizaz Khan, Anas Khan, Anshuman Rath, Babar Hayat, Ehsan Nawaz, Haseeb Amjad, Irfan Ahmed, James Atkinson, Kinchit Shah, Nadeem Ahmed, Nizakat Khan, Waqas Barkat, Waqas Khan, Giacomo Lamplough, Charlie Burke (Coach).
Yes! Dongfeng on the Podium!
For China, the Volvo Ocean Race, and all those who thought we couldn’t do it. Dongfeng Race Team secured a place on the podium of the Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15 at their first attempt today in Gothenburg, Sweden – an incredible achievement for Charles Caudrelier and his Chinese backed team.
However this podium finish reaches further than just the realms of the team. It touches the Chinese sponsors Dongfeng Trucks, Aeolus Tyres and the city of Shiyan, who took the risk of financially backing the campaign, for whom sponsorship and sailing were completely new just last year. It is a huge reward for the professional sailors and shore team who embraced the project knowing that it was not labelled a ‘winning’ campaign. And finally, it touches the journalists, family, friends, fans and everyone else who believed in us and supported us on our journey.
Winning comes in many forms, we didn’t take the trophy home but does that mean we didn’t win? Maybe we didn’t win the Volvo Ocean Race but we won our own challenge.
It’s true that this 12th edition of the Volvo Ocean Race has been epic and unbelievably, after 11 countries, over 41,000 nautical miles, two leg wins, five podium results out of nine, one broken mast and it it all came down to the last few miles. Dongfeng Race Team finished leg 9 in fourth place behind Team Alvimedica, Team Brunel and MAPFRE. The Spanish frustratingly managed to slip in front of Dongfeng a few hundred metres from the line after being covered all the way from The Hague by the Caudrelier-Bidegorry duo. But it was enough for Dongfeng to secure the overall podium place they deserved – Mapfre had to beat Dongfeng by two places to overtake them in the overall standings.
So whilst there was some disappointment on their faces from missing a leg 9 podium after putting so much energy in to these past few days, the overall third place is a great victory for a team for whom a podium finish in Gothenburg was just a distant dream.
“I want to thank Dongfeng and Bruno for giving me this opportunity. A year ago I never would have believed this possible. I have lived the most incredible human story with this team and I am so proud of the progress of the Chinese sailors. Turning Chinese athletes including HongKonger Cheng Ying-kit into professional offshore sailors was challenging but it was worth every second.” – Charles Caudrelier.
In most people’s mind the concept of winning is an absolute. Technically, Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing has won this race, and we congratulate them, they were there the favourites, they delivered, and they deserved it. They got first place, they held an unassailable lead coming in to Gothenburg and they will take the trophy home. So what does this tell us? Well, we know they were the ‘race favourites’ and as Charles said “It’s hard to be the race favourites and even harder to maintain that image. They’ve done a great job.”
But for Dongfeng Race Team it has been a different story. Hardly race favourites, from day one this Chinese campaign has faced adversity and sometimes it’s been draining, both physically and emotionally. It’s a given that if we had a dollar for every tear, drop of sweat and laughter over the last nine months, we would be millionaires today.
As a campaign we wanted to reignite offshore sailing in China. We wanted to build a campaign the Chinese people could take ownership of, something they were proud of. We wanted to inspire a new generation of sailors and we had a mission to teach and train young Chinese sailors, take a first step in the right direction to bring offshore sailing to China and if we could, leave a Volvo Ocean Race legacy.
“There is still a long way to go but I know from the reaction back home this project has been great for offshore sailing in China,” says Yang Jiru (Wolf). “I hope it will inspire young Chinese sailors for years to come. Eighteen months of this life with this team has taught me a lot. Besides offshore sailing it has taught me how to deal with situations and emotions I would have never otherwise faced.”
This team defied the odds, and ultimately became a team that could win – if not this time, then in the future…
This time though – Charles Caudrelier, Chen Jin Hao (Horace), Pascal Bidégorry, Yang Jiru (Wolf), Thomas Rouxel, Liu Xue (Black), Eric Peron, Cheng Ying Kit, Yann Riou, Sam Greenfield, Kevin Escoffier, Liu Ming (Leo) and Kong Chencheng – and the whole team – be proud.
Olympic Rugby Sevens Qualifier: 7-8 November, 2015
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Tickets for the two day Asia Olympic Sevens Qualifier on the 7-8 November will go on sale in August priced at $360 for a 2 day pass and $200 for a day pass. The two day tournament will feature the men’s and women’s Rio2016 Asia qualification matches.
The men’s tournament is a 12 team event featuring with the men’s winner claiming Asia’s sole automatic slot amongst the 12 teams participating in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where Rugby Sevens will make its much anticipated debut. Competing to be Asia’s representative will be China, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand
Already qualified for the men’s competition are Fiji, New Zealand, South Africa, Great Britain, USA, Argentina and the hosts Brazil. The remaining five places will be awarded to the winners of regional qualifiers in Europe, Oceania, Africa and the Hong Kong tournament for Asia as well as the winner of a 16-team international repêchage tournament to be held later in the year.
The women’s qualifier is an 8 team event, the first part of a two leg qualification process that culminates in Tokyo on 28-29 November 2015. Teams competing in the women’s event are China, Hong Kong, Japan, Kazakhstan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Uzbekistan.
The winner heading to Rio to join New Zealand, Canada, Australia, Great Britain, Colombia, USA, France and hosts Brazil who have already booked their spots at the 2016 Olympic Games
“The opportunity to participate in an Olympic Games is the ultimate dream for any athlete, and we are totally focused on preparing for the November tournaments,” commented women’s sevens veteran Cheng Ka Chi.
Asia Rugby Sevens Qualifier
Date: 7-8 November, 2015
Venue: HK Stadium
Tickets: $360 (2-day pass), $200 (1-day pass), under 12 free.
More info: Exact details of the ticket buying process have yet to be released
10th Anniversary Central Rat Race
After debuting in 2006, the Central Rat Race has attracted thousands of runners and raised over $21million for charity. The featured charity for the 10th Anniversary race is Mindset. The Rat Race symbolizes the challenges one may face in the business world of the urban jungle where nothing is as easy as it seems.
Four races will be held on the day. The main Central Rat Race, is an 8 rat team relay event where team members carry a briefcase baton across the challenging obstacles of the business world to success. The Big Rat Race, is for individuals to ‘big’ to work in a team. An NGO Rat Race is for NGO staff and guests while the Junior Rat Race which is a series of activities designed for children aged five to ten.
Central Rat Race
Date: 9am, 25 October, 2015
Venue: Central
Tickets: Free to watch, entry $60,000, $20,000
More info: Entry registration is open now www.centralratrace.com
Hong Kong 7-0 Bhutan @ Mongkok Stadium – 11 June, 2015
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A patriotic and boisterous sold-out Mongkok Stadium had much to cheer as Hong Kong strolled past Bhutan seven goals to nil to get their World Cup qualifying campaign off to a winning start. Jaimes McKee open the scoring and his team-mates joined him on the score sheet at regular intervals. Only poor finishing kept the score from reaching double figures as Hong Kong totally outplayed the team 5 places above them in the Fifa world rankings.
Hundreds of fans were turned away as the stadium sold out just after 6pm. What the crowd thought of China’s Fifa racist insults of Hong Kong was pretty obvious as the ‘National’ anthem was drowned out by boos and loud cheers of Hong Kong. As one of the many signs hanging in the stadium said Hong is Not China
Hong Kong’s next match is against The Maldives at Mongkok Stadium, 8pm 16 June – tickets on sale now.
Hong Kong
Jaimes McKee 19′, Christian Annan 23′, Kwan Yee Lo 30′, Ju Yingzhi 42′, Ka Wai Lam 49′ PEN, Jaimes McKee 57′, Godfred Karikari 67′
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Everywhere We Go… Tottenham Fans on Tour
The commercial draw of the English Premier League is well documented and no where is its appeal more evident than in Asia, particularly south-east Asia. But is this merely a passing affection for one successful team before switching allegiances to the next successful one? Swap the red of United or Arsenal for the blue of City or Chelsea. This is the general perception and is, in fact, quite a common occurrence. So what happens when a team that has had very limited success over the past 30 years visits this part of the world? More to the point, what happens when it’s Tottenham Hotspur – a name that kindles joyful memories for the older generation of football fans but means very little to anyone under 30?
As I boarded the flight from Hong Kong to Kuala Lumpur I looked around at my fellow passengers hoping to spot someone wearing a Spurs shirt. Perhaps under their business shirts they were sporting the latest home shirt. But nobody on board was, and I settled down to the flight feeling somewhat disappointed and wondering why I was making such an effort to see my team play in a meaningless exhibition match.
But that feeling rapidly changed to one of excitement the moment I touched down in KL. The immigration officer, upon seeing my shirt, asked if I had come for the match and welcomed me to Malaysia. Not the usual welcome for a football fan! A flight from Bangkok had landed just before and the arrivals hall was full of Thai Spurs fans. The excitement in the air was palpable. It was a quick trip into town to check in to my hotel and then meet up with a group of Singapore Spurs fans for pre-match dinner and drinks. This idea, however, was quickly scuppered when we discovered the stadium was miles from anywhere and that a taxi would take about 2 hours to get there.
We piled into a taxi and got chatting to the driver, a Liverpool fan. After a bit of gentle ribbing about Liverpool’s drubbing at the hands of Stoke, we offered him a ticket for the game. A quick call to his wife to say he would be home late and, bingo, we had a driver for the whole of the evening. He sat with us in the stadium and I’m sure the atmosphere generated by the Spurs fans left a lasting impression on him. Perhaps the red of Liverpool has already been replaced by the lilywhite of Tottenham!
Shah Alam stadium is huge. It has a capacity of 80,000 but it was very clear that the stadium would not even be half full for the game. A group of Malaysian fans had been campaigning in the weeks leading up to the game for a boycott. They felt that the national team should not be involved in such ‘exhibition’ games and should focus on qualifying for the World Cup. I could see their point but, nonetheless, if felt good to be on the point of seeing my team in the flesh again after their visit to Hong Kong in 2013.
Outside the stadium, large groups of Spurs fans were singing away. Supporters groups had come from all over Asia for the chance of seeing Harry Kane and company. It was so much fun hearing the usual repertoire of Spurs songs being sung in a variety of regional accents. These fans were not glory hunters but had, for one reason or other, chosen Spurs as their team, and they were just as fanatical about the club as anyone from N17 would be.
Inside the stadium, a huge number of Spurs fans had gathered by the halfway line. Down near the front, the Thai contingent was making a lot of noise. Just behind them, sat the Malaysian Spurs fans – a truly multicultural group of Malays, Chinese, Indian and Westerners. Over to my right stood the Indonesian Spurs – by far the loudest group with a variety of songs in both English and Indonesian. I sat together with a large group of Singapore Spurs fans who were extremely well organised but more subdued than the other groups. And then there was a small but very noisy group from Hong Kong that led the crowd in much of the singing. It was amazing to see and hear the support for Tottenham Hotspur. And the people around were not aged in their 50s or 60s who could remember fondly the silky skills of Glenn Hoddle and co. These were young people who had never seen Spurs win anything, apart from the league cup a few years ago. What made it even more incredible was the fans’ commitment to the team. Not only were they wearing all manner of Spurs-related clothing, they were highly knowledgeable about the club and the current crop of players.
The game was played in unbearably humid conditions with Spurs running out 2 – 1 winners. Both goals were scored, naturally, by Harry Kane. Hearing the crowd sing ‘he’s one of our own’ was quite surreal. The trip back to the city centre was much faster than the one there. The warm glow of seeing Spurs play and win was felt by all. This was football as it should be – supporting a team not because they win trophy after trophy, though that would be nice, but supporting them because it’s in one’s blood and we’re all linked together for better or worse as Spurs fans. The trip had been worth it and the experience memorable. And, as the song goes, it really was the Tottenham boys (and girls) making all the noise.
If you’re a Tottenham fan in Hong Kong join the SpursHK facebook page
Images courtesy of Malaysia Spurs, Tottenham Hotspurs
China’s Racist Attack on Hong Kong
This is the poster for China vs Hong Kong (qualification rounds for Russia 2018) from China’s FIFA:
“Don’t underestimate any opponents. People of this team (Hong Kong) have black skin, yellow skin and white skin. Facing a team with ‘SO MANY LAYERS’, we must strengthen our defence a bit!”
The poster emphasises that the Hong Kong team has black, yellow and white skins, “layers” means races and classes.
The HK Football Associations’s rebuttal to China’s racist ad:
“Don’t let others look down on us! Our team has black, yellow, and white skin, but all of us are here to represent Hong Kong. All HKers should support us!”
The hashtag on the bottom reads “Support our own”.
The HKFA refuses to use the “official” name of “Chinese Hong Kong”.
Poster Translation: Real Hong Kong News