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UCI Track Cycling Nations Cup – 13 May, 2021

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The UCI Track Cycling Nations Cup started at the HK Velodrome today. The first international sports event in Hong Kong since the start of the pandemic.

Here are some photos of the first day’s action. You can watch the event live here.

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images: UCI Track Cycling Nations Cup Hong Kong

Rugby Sevens Olympic Repechage Pools

Preparations for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics Games rugby sevens competition took another step forward with the confirmation of the pools for the World Rugby Sevens Repechage.

Monaco will host the final Tokyo 2020 Olympic qualification event on 19-20 June.

In the women’s competition, the 12 teams involved in the draw have been allocated into three pools of four teams. The top two teams in each pool, plus the two third-placed teams with the highest point totals will qualify for the knockout stages of the competition. With two qualification places yet to grab, both winners in the final two games will claim their ticket to Tokyo.

For the men’s competition, the ten teams in contention for the final Olympic qualification place have been drawn into two pools of five teams. Teams will play against all four opponents in their pools with the top two teams from each pool progressing through two knockout stages, culminating in a winner being decided in the final.

The men’s draw saw HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series core teams Samoa and Ireland paired in Pool A together with Tonga, Zimbabwe and Mexico. France were the top seeded team based on their performances in the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series where they finished sixth in 2020 and they are drawn in Pool B along with Hong Kong, Chile, Uganda and Jamaica.

The Olympic men’s rugby sevens competition will take place from 26-28 July, with the women’s tournament following on the 29-31 July. All the action will take place at Tokyo Stadium, which was a venue for Rugby World Cup 2019.

Winne Hung Qualifies for Tokyo Olympics

Congratulations to Hong Kong sculler Winne Hung Wing Yan who qualified for Tokyo2020 in the Women’s Single Sculls at the recent Asia and Oceania Olympic Qualification Regatta held in Tokyo.

The qualification event brought together 50 crews from 18 countries, racing in four events in challenging conditions. Bad weather saw racing canceled on the first day and all the events were compressed into two days. Racing a semi-final and final just hours apart, Hung snatched the final qualifying place.

“Racing as a lightweight rower in the open-class singles is not easy” Head Coach, Chris Perry commented, “Winne had a tough race to win the B Final and we are delighted that she has achieved a place for Tokyo.”

image: hkrowing

Olympic Sevens Repechage Draw

Hong Kong’s men’s and women’s rugby 7s teams will soon discover their route to Tokyo. The Olympic Sevens Repechage Draw, the final rugby qualification event for the Olympic Games in Tokyo, will take place on Tuesday, 11 May at 10:00 BST (GMT+1) and will be streamed live on World Rugby’s digital platforms.

Monaco will host the final Tokyo 2020 Olympic qualification event on 19-20 June.

Women’s Competition

The women’s competition will see the 12 teams drawn into three pools of four teams. The teams have been banded based on placements in their regional competitions alongside performances in World Rugby tournaments. One team from each band will be drawn into each pool.

Band 1: France, Papua New Guinea, Russia
Band 2: Argentina, Hong Kong, Kazakhstan
Band 3: Colombia, Jamaica, Mexico
Band 4: Madagascar, Samoa, Tunisia

The top two teams in each pool, plus the two third-placed teams with the highest point totals will qualify for the knockout stages of the competition. As there are two Olympic qualification places available for women, the Repechage will feature two rounds of knockout games with the final round featuring four teams competing in two matches where both winners gain Olympic qualification and claim their tickets to Tokyo.

Men’s Competition

For the men’s competition, the 10 teams are drawn into two pools of five teams, including one team from each of the five pre-determined bands.

Band 1: France, Samoa
Band 2: Hong Kong, Ireland
Band 3: Chile, Tonga
Band 4: Uganda, Zimbabwe
Band 5: Jamaica, Mexico

Teams will play against all four opponents in their pools with the top two teams from each pool progressing through to the knockout stages, culminating in the final with the winner booking their place on the plane to Tokyo.

Hong Kong Athletics Championships 2021

The Hong Kong Athletics Championships 2021 took place on the weekend of 1-2 May at Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground.

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Saturday, 1 May Results

Shak Kam Ching and Chan Pui Kei won the Men’s and Women’s blue-ribbon sprints. Shak Kam Ching was 100m Champion in 10.68s with the silver and bronze medals going to Lee Hong Kit (10.77s) and Ho Wai Lun (10.95s).

Chan Pui Kei won the Women’s 100m gold medal in 12.31s with the silver and bronze medals going Luo Tsz Yuen (12.42s) and Kong Chun Ki (12.53s) respectively.

In the hurdles events, Chan Chung Wang ran 14.36s in the final to become the Men’s 110m Champion with Mui Chung Yeung second in 14.52s and Lui Chun Yun third in 15.09s.

Lui Lai Yiu (13.66s) won gold in the Women’s 100m Hurdles, Shing Cho Yan (14.43s) and Liu Hoi Yan (14.50s) won silver and bronze respectively.

To Yuen Kwan threw 13.03m to win the gold medal in the Women’s Shot Put, while Yue Ya Xin won gold in the Women’s Long Jump with a leap of 6.17m.

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Sunday, 2 May Results

In the Men’s 3000m Steeplechase, Leung Tak Yeung (9:30.87) smashed his own Hong Kong U20 record to win gold with Yu Hin Wa (9:38.83) in silver.

Cheung Pui Yin was in good form in the Men’s Pole Vault winning gold and set a new Hong Kong record at 4.80m an improvement of 35cm on the previous record when he set in 2019.

In the Women’s High Jump four athletes cleared 1.75m with Cheung Ching Laam Priscilla winning gold on countback, Chung Wai Yan and Yeung Man Wai were second and third (sadly the name of the fourth athlete was not included)

In the Men’s Long Jump, Chan Ming Tai (7.70m) clinched gold on his final jump ahead of Leung Shing Hei (7.23m) and Chan Chun Hei (7.17m).

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Additional reporting and images: Hong Kong Association of Athletics Affiliates (HKAAA)

Hong Kong Women’s Rugby Results – 10 April 2021

Women’s Competition 1

HKFC Ice 7-19 Kowloon
@ HK Football Club, Kick-off: 17:00

Valley Black 41-0 CWB Phoenix
@ Happy Valley, Kick-off: 18:00

Image: hkrugby

Stephanie Norton Makes History

Congratulation to local sailor Stephanie Norton who in finishing third at Mussanah Open Championships in Oman made HK Sailing history by qualifying in the Laser Radial class for the Tokyo Olympics!

Norton is the first female dinghy sailor from Hong Kong to reach the Olympics via a competitive route since stricter qualification rules were implemented after the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

Photo RHKYC/Guy Nowell

Hong Kong’s Sevens Squads to Train in England

The limitations on competitive sport are impacting on domestic and international competition… So Hong Kong’s men’s and women’s sevens squads will travel to the United Kingdom and Portugal for an extended training camp in May and June.

Training and warm-up matches against international opposition are needed ahead of multiple upcoming tournaments including:

In August the World Rugby Challenger competition for spots on the World Sevens Series.

The 19^th Asian Games in Hangzhou in September, where Hong Kong’s men’s sevens squad will be the defending champions, after taking Gold in Jakarta in 2018.

Hong Kong’s women finished in fifth place in Jakarta, and hope to improve on that in Hangzhou

The Rugby World Cup Sevens in South Africa in mid-September. Hong Kong have qualified for every Rugby World Cup Sevens since the inception of the world championship in 1993.

And lastly but by no means least the 45^th Hong Kong Sevens in early November, the first international sevens competition to be held in the city in over 3½ years.

Hong Kong Rugby Union General Manager of Performance Rugby James Farndon said, “As restrictions tighten in Hong Kong, many of the HKSI’s High Performance Sport Programmes are taking their athletes and coaches overseas to ensure that they can maintain competitive advantage for their respective international competitions.

“Given the importance of our upcoming international tournaments we believe that it is essential for the teams to have optimal preparation including matches against premier international competition. The HKSI’s approach to financially support overseas training camps like this is highly appreciated by the HKRU,” added Farndon.

Training in the United Kingdom also offers the opportunity to enter both teams into two events on the upcoming UK Super Sevens Series, which takes place in May and June across the United Kingdom, and into long-running international sevens warm-up tournaments in Lisbon and the Algarve in Portugal. These will mark the first international competitions for the teams since November 2021.

The squads will depart on 6 May and will base at Loughborough University, an institution highly regarded for its sports programmes and with excellent training and rehabilitation facilities for the duration of the trip.

Additional reporting, images: HK Rugby