Category: sport

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.

https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2021/Hong-Kong-Athletics-Championships-2021/i-KSmhC5q

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.

https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2021/Hong-Kong-Athletics-Championships-2021/i-GRRxGvd

https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2021/Hong-Kong-Athletics-Championships-2021/i-BCMgcGr

 

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).

https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2021/Hong-Kong-Athletics-Championships-2021/i-jt9k52L

https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2021/Hong-Kong-Athletics-Championships-2021/i-Jhwbt67

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 19th 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 45th Hong Kong Sevens in early November, the first international sevens competition to be held in the city in over 3½ years.

Cado Lee Ka Hong Kong Mens Sevens

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

Jade Jets Women’s Premier League Champions 2021

Jade Jets 103/5 in 27.3 overs (Mariko Hill 63*, Maryam Bibi 5.3-0-24-2) beat Bauhinia Stars 102 a/o in 35.2 overs (Kary Chan 27, Keenu Gill 4.2-1-6-3, Jasmine Titmuss 7-0-22-3) by 5 wickets

The third and final game of the 2020-21 Women’s Premier League was played on 21st March at Mission Road. Jade Jets skipper Pull To won the toss and elected to field first on an overcast Sunday morning.

To’s decision was vindicated with a pair of early wickets as she held a sharp catch to dismiss Jaswinder Kaur off Iqra Sahar in the 2nd over, after which Jasmine Titmuss trapped Emma Lai lbw. Ruchitha Venkatesh and Kary Chan steadied the innings before Venkatesh nicked the first ball she received from Betty Chan to be dismissed for 5, the Stars 39/3.

Kary Chan was dismissed for 27 on the last ball of Betty Chan’s next over, falling to a clever piece of bowling, and Game 2 POTM Maryam Bibi was caught well by Mariko Hill for a 2nd ball duck. Amanda Cheung stuck around for a while, but was the 6th batter dismissed, bowled around her legs by Keenu Gill, who then ran out a hesitating Alison Siu to leave the Stars reeling at 56/7.

Connie Wong and Dorothea Chan added a much needed 32 runs, but just as she was set to tee off Wong was yorked by Jasmine Titmuss for 26. Titmuss bowled Anum with an identical yorker next ball leaving the Stars 88 for 9. Chan and Maheen Haider added 14 runs in a final wicket partnership that pushed the Stars past 100, before Gill broke through Chan’s defences to bring an end to the innings after 36 overs.

https://youtu.be/Aa1vFpuWXrU

In response, the Bauhina Stars also nabbed a couple of early wickets,  skipper Kary Chan dismissed her opposite number Pull To in the 4th over, and Maryam Bibi struck twice in her opening spell, trapping Titmuss lbw and bowling Keenu Gill with a peach of a delivery.

After 11.2 overs the Jets found themselves on exactly the same score as the Stars – 39/3. But Mariko Hill was hitting well dispatching every poor ball offered. She struck 11 boundaries on her way to an unbeaten 63 off 74 balls, taking the game away from the Stars in the process.

Hill added 43 with Lemon Cheung, in the highest partnership of the game, and despite a late wobble was able to ease the Jets home with 12.3 overs and 5 wickets to spare. A comprehensive win for the Jets to cap off a successful first-ever Women’s Premier League!

Hong Kong Cricket All-Stars 2021

The Cricket Hong Kong (CHK) All-Stars Series postponed from last December will now take place later this month at Tin Kwong Road Recreation Ground in Kowloon. Thirty-six cricketers from across the region have been split into three teams, each of which represents a major district of Hong Kong.

The Kowloon Lions, Hong Kong’s most populous district in the shadow of Lion Rock, will be lead by current Hong Kong skipper Aizaz Khan. While current HK vice-captain Kinchit Shah will lead New Territories Tigers named after the wild tigers that used to roam the area.

Former HK captain Jamie Atkinson will lead the Hong Kong Islanders, home to many of Hong Kong’s distinctive landmarks. The three teams will play each other once in a single round-robin stage, with the top 2 sides playing each other in a Final.

All-Stars Squads

Kowloon Lions: Aizaz Khan (Captain), Zeeshan Ali (Wicketkeeper), Nizakat Khan, Hamed Khan, Ehsan Ayaz, Jack Metters, Mehran Zeb, Dan Pascoe, Dhananjay Rao, Ahan Trivedi, Gandeep Sandhu, Charlie Wallis

New Territories Tigers: Kinchit Shah (Captain), Adit Gorawara (Wicketkeeper), Babar Hayat, Wajid Shah, Akbar Khan, Daniyal Bukhari, Aftab Hussain, Ashley Caddy, Bilal Akhtar, Sheryar Khan, Mohammad Hassan Khan, Ateeq Iqbal

Hong Kong Islanders: Jamie Atkinson (Captain, Wicketkeeper), Umar Mohammad, Ninad Shah, Waqas Khan, Haroon Arshad, Simandeep Singh, Zakir Hayat, Ehsan Khan, Mohammad Waheed, Mohammad Ghazanfar, Ayush Shukla, Mohsin Khan

All-Stars T20 Series

The T20 series will see all three teams compete across 2 days, playing 3 round-robin matches followed by a winner takes all final.

The 50 over competition will see the teams re-drafted with the Hong Kong Islanders taking on the Kowloon Lions in a best of 3 series.

Friday 26th March

9:30am: Kowloon Lions vs New Territories Tigers

1:30pm: Hong Kong Islanders vs Kowloon Lions

Saturday 27th March

9:30am: New Territories Tigers vs Hong Kong Islanders

1:30pm: FINAL

All games played at Tin Kwong Road Recreation Ground in Kowloon.

The T20 series will be followed by a 3-Match ODI Series between the Kowloon Lions and Hong Kong Islanders.

All games will be screened live and free on Youtube

Rugby World Cup France 2023 Tickets Go On Sale

Tickets for Rugby World Cup 2023 will go on sale from 15 March, 2021 at 12:00 CET after the France 2023 organising committee announced details of the tournament’s ticketing programme. A total of 2.6 million tickets will be available for the 10th edition of the men’s event which kicks off on 8 September, 2023.

Tickets will go on sale through a phased process from 15 March, 2021 at tickets.rugbyworldcup.com  – with an exclusive pre-sale period for fans who have registered to join the 2023 Family by 23:59 CET on 13 March. During the ‘pre-sale period’, which runs until 5 April, fans will be able to purchase Follow my Team and City packs on a first-come, first-served basis, which will enable them to choose to attend a team’s pool phase matches or all the pool phase matches at a match venue.

General sales for Follow My Team and City packs will open on 6 April, 2021 at 18:00 CET with packages starting at 58€ for the Toulouse City Pack (Category 4). Ticket-inclusive Official Travel and Hospitality sales will commence on 18 March, 2021.

The ticket launch follows the announcement last week of the match schedule which features an extended pool phase to allow longer recovery periods for the players. Rugby World Cup 2023 will be played across 10 host cities and nine stadiums.

Tickets by Team or by City?

In the ‘pre-sale’ phase from 15 March, tickets will only be sold in two formats, either by city or by team.

The Follow My Team pack includes all four pool matches from a qualified team, with the possibility to add an optional quarter-final should the team makes it to the knockout phase. Twelve Follow My Team packs will be available, one for each qualified nation.

The City Pack includes either three or all pool matches in each of the nine host cities. In the ‘three matches’ format, fans will need to select two fixtures in addition to one compulsory. Only the opening match won’t be available in this format.

In the comprehensive ‘all matches’ City pack, fans will be able to attend all pool matches in the host city of their choice, except for Saint-Denis (Stade de France).

World Rugby Chairman, Sir Bill Beaumont said: “Rugby World Cup France 2023 will showcase the best of rugby and the best of France and we are delighted to launch the tournament’s ticketing programme. Our ambition, in partnership with our friends at the France 2023 organising committee, is to make France 2023 the most accessible tournament to date. This ticketing programme certainly does that. Everyone is invited to join a special celebration of France and 200 years of rugby.”

France 2023 Organising Committee CEO, Claude Atcher added: “With our ticketing programme, we want to make Rugby World Cup 2023 as accessible as possible for everyone and provide the opportunity for French and international fans to attend matches from the best 20 rugby nations in the world. ”

Key Ticket Sales Dates
  • 13 March at 23:59 CET: Registration closes for the 2023 Family
  • 15 March at 12:00 CET: 2023 Family pre-sale opens for City and Team packs
  • 18 March: Launch of Official Travel and Hospitality sales programmes
  • 6 April at 18:00 CET: General sale opens for City and Team Packs
  • 2022: Individual match tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis

Additional reporting and images: World Rugby