Category: sport

HK Beat UAE to Qualify for Asia Cup

In a rain-affected final of the Asia Cup Qualifier 2018 in Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong beat the United Arab Emirates by two wickets (DLS method) to book their place in the Asia Cup.

A fine five-for from Aizaz Khan first helped Hong Kong restrict UAE to 176/9 in 24 overs, the innings affected by a long rain break, before Hong Kong found enough contributors right through their chase to get to their revised target of 179 with three balls left.

Hong Kong captain Anshuman Rath won the toss and elected to bowl first in the cloudy and humid conditions. A bigly game for both teams with the winners guaranteed a place in the Asia Cup – in the group with Pakistan and India.

The UAE innings – a two-part affair, of 15.2 overs first and then 8.4 overs, broken by a long interruption because of rain and a wet outfield – started well with the opening pair of Ashfaq and Suri negating the early movement making their way past 50 in the first 12 overs.

Tanwir Afzal made the initial breakthrough with an excellent delivery hitting the top of off stump to dismiss Suri leaving UAE 52-1. Aizaz Khan was bought into the attack and had made an immediate impression dismissing the UAE captain Mustafa for an 8 ball duck and Shahzad for 2 before play was halted for almost 4 hours with UAE on 65-3 off 15.2 overs.

The rain delay saw the match reduced to 24 overs per side. After the restart Ashfaq and Anwar attacked the Hong Kong bowlers with a number of boundaries struck with Ehsan Khan being targeted on a flat Kinrara wicket. Nadeem Ahmed made the breakthrough dismissing Anwar for 22 and Ashfaq who top scored with 79. A flurry of wickets and boundaries saw UAE through to 176-9 off their allotted 24 overs. Aizaz Khan was magnificent in taking 5-28 to lead the seam attack on a flat batting wicket.

Hong Kong, with the benefit of knowing their target and the number of overs at their disposal, started well with Nizakat Khan and Anshuman Rath, two of their most pedigreed batsmen. The two added 64 runs in just six overs to put Hong Kong in front before Rohan Mustafa had Nizakat’s number, sending him back for a 20-ball 38.

Then followed a good phase for UAE as Babar Hayat and Kinchit Shah followed Nizakat to the pavilion to leave the scoreboard reading 68/3, which became 82/4 in the 10th over when Ahmed Raza bowled Rath for 28.

The UAE were in front at that stage, but Christopher Carter (33 in 32 balls) and Ehsan Khan (29 in 24) made sure the game was back on an even keel with a 53-run stand for the fifth wicket. A dramatic game took another turn when Carter was run out and Mohammad Naveed struck twice in one over to leave Hong Kong at a precarious 147/7.

The closer the Hong Kong team got to the target the more the drama unfolded. Ehsan Khan and Aizaz Khan departed with 33 still needed and. The experienced duo of Tanwir Afzal and Scott McKechnie came together and played with a great deal of courage and experience to continue to whittle away at the target. The danger man for UAE (Naveed) returned to bowl his final over with the game in the balance. A full blooded pull for 6 by Afzal was followed by an audacious scoop over fine leg by McKechnie to leave 12 runs required with 12 balls remaining.

The dismissal of Afzal off the last ball of the 23rd over left Hong Kong needing 3 to win off the final 6 balls with 2 wickets remaining. The first ball offered the chance of a run out at the non-strikers end which was missed…… 2 off 5 needed. McKechnie looking to finish with glory missed his pull shot but scampered a single to 3rd Man…… 1 off 4 needed. The winning run saw the batsman scamper through for a bye after the keeper fumbled the ball standing back… Hong Kong win by 2 wickets with 3 balls remaining and qualify for the Asia Cup!

Hong Kong will now prepare for their Asia Cup opener against Pakistan, to be played in Dubai on 16 September, followed by the fixture against India, also in Dubai, on 18 September.

Hong Kong captain Anshuman Rath, acknowledged UAE’s efforts “The UAE batsmen batted tremendously well after the rain delay. To get that many runs in 10 overs is no joke on any ground. The momentum was with them, but we knew it was a good wicket. Games like that can go either way, so credit to UAE for playing such an awesome game. We knew we had the batting firepower to chase it down, and luckily that happened.”

UAE’s coach, Dougie Brown, was understandably very disappointed at the result. He said: “Gutted doesn’t even come close to describing the feeling right now. I think the guys deserve a hell of a lot of credit for the way they fought. We didn’t get everything right. We maybe didn’t bowl as well as we can do. We maybe didn’t field quite as well as we know we can, but to get into the position we did, to get into the position where we had the total to defend we ended up with, was a phenomenal effort. Credit to Hong Kong, they won some critical moments in a game of very fine margins.”

Additional reporting and images: HK Cricket, ICC

Hong Kong Dragon’s Squad for East Asia Cup

The Hong Kong Dragons squad for the East Asia Cup being held in Hong Kong between 13-16 September has been announced. Li Kai Ming will captain the 14 man squad which includes batsman Ken Tsang and all-rounder David Fang two recent call-ups to the training squad.

After finishing a disappointing third in the last East Asia Cup Dragons Head Coach Chris Pickett is looking forward to the tournament and commented that the squad has worked hard to improve all aspects of their game. “Since the last East Asia Cup in Japan two years ago the squad have lost some faces, through work commitments overseas but also gained some new faces.”

CHK Dragons Squad for the East Asia Cup 2018
Li Kai Ming (CHK Pioneers) (Captain), Arthur Chiu (CCC Hung See), Bobby Chan (CCC Hung See), Damien Yee (CHK Pioneers), Danny Lee (CHK Pioneers), David Fang (CHK Pioneers), Henry Siu (CCC Hung See), James Chan (CHK Pioneers, Jason Lui, Ka U Lynn (CCC Hung See), Ken Tsang (CHK Pioneers), Nigel Sun (CCC Hung See), Rob Lee (CCC Hung See), Siegfried Wai.

Reserve Players
Bosco Szeto (CHK Pioneers), Horace Leung (CHK Pioneers), Howard Kwan (CHK Pioneers), Michael Tsing (CHK Pioneers), Thomas Tsang (CHK Pioneers), Vans Chan (CHK Pioneers)

Officials
Head Coach: Chris Pickett
Assistant Coach: Richard Waite
Team Manager: Phil Daniels
Physio: Max Yeung

Men’s East Asia Cup
Date: 13-16 September, 2018
Venue: Tin Kwong Road Recreation Ground, Hong Kong Cricket Club, Kowloon Cricket Club
Tickets: Free

e-Sports Live!

The largest ever local e-sports event, the e-Sports & Music Festival Hong Kong, takes place from 24-26 August at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC). Launched last year around a single “Return of the Legends” tournament this year’s Festival features three international
e-sports tournaments: “Return of the Legends”, “Hong Kong PUBG World Invitational” and “Masters Cs:GO 2018 Grand Finals”. The later offers a total prize pool of US$300,000 and over 110 players from across the globe will compete in the three tournaments including local player Tabe, who was a runner-up in the “League of Legends World Championship”…

As with last year there will be an ‘Experience Zone’ which will include the latest e-sports games and related products including game displays, VR experience, mobile game trials, KOL stages, and music performances.

e-Sports & Music Festival
Date: 24-26 August, 2018
Venue: HKCEC, Hall 3DE
Tickets: $250, $120, $50 from HKTicketing
More info:
24 Aug 2018: 5:30-11pm
25 Aug 2018: 11am-3:30pm; 4-11pm
26 Aug 2018: 11am-3:30pm; 4-10pm

Women’s 7s Olympic Final Will Be Played On Iconic ‘Super Saturday’!

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games are just two years away and the dates for the Olympic 7s tournament have been confirmed by World Rugby.

Sevens made an impressive Olympic Games debut at Rio 2016 with Australia’s women claiming the first rugby gold medal since the 1924 Games and Fiji’s men claiming their nation’s first-ever Olympic medal, with an historic gold.

The International Olympic Committee has approved the competition schedule for all 33 sports at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and rugby sevens will again feature in the first week of competition with matches being played across six days of two sessions per day from 27 July to 1 August, 2020.

In a reverse of the Rio 2016 format, the men’s competition will be played over the first three days, while the women’s competition will take place over the final three days, with the medals day being played on the iconic ‘Super Saturday’.

World Rugby Chairman Bill Beaumont said: “This is the moment that the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games comes alive for our players and fans around the world. With two years to go, the competition dates are set, excitement is building, and I am anticipating an outstanding sevens and Games.

“By alternating the schedule, the world’s top women’s teams have the opportunity to shine on ‘Super Saturday’, the biggest moment of the Games, which is extremely exciting for the advancement and popularity of women’s sevens.”

Additional reporting and images: World Rugby

Hong Kong Lose World Cup 7s Opener

Hong Kong lost its opening match of the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens, losing 21-7 to Russia.

Debutant Liam Herbert scored in the dying minutes to put Hong Kong on the board late in the game, but the damage had been done in the first half after Russia ran out to a 21-0 lead before halftime after an early brace from Sergei Ianiushkin and a third try late in the half from German Davydov.

Hong Kong put in a much-improved performance in the second half but it was too little too late, and captain Ben Rimene rued his side’s slow start and lack of execution after the match.

“It was a slow start for us. They were up 21-0 at halftime and we had hardly touched the ball in the first half. When we did get the ball we gave it up too easily. With teams like Russia that play at this level all of the time, if you give them the ball they are going to score points and they did,” Rimene added.

The tournament’s knock out format means that Hong Kong will now be contesting the Bowl in San Francisco and will face off against Jamaica who were beaten 50-0 by France in their opening match.

“We are in the bottom half of the tournament now and we have to focus on Jamaica. Our objective now is to get into the top part of the draw come Sunday,” said Rimene.

Tonga will play Chile in the first Bowl quarter final, followed by an all-African affair between Zimbabwe and Uganda, while Papua New Guinea and Uruguay will contest the last Bowl quarter final.

“We need to tighten up our structures for tomorrow,” Rimene added. “We knew what we need to do out there, it was our execution more than anything else that was off.”

Despite being one of six players in the squad that competed in the Rugby World Cup 2019 qualification match against Cook Islands two weeks ago, Rimene didn’t chalk up his sides’ slow start to any off-season rustiness.

“We are professionals and we know what we need to do. It’s not the easiest thing in the world to go from fifteens to sevens, but it’s part of the job and we have to do it.”

Coach Paul John stressed that his team’s ultimate objectives from San Francisco were still valid; possibly even more so, given that Hong Kong may be competing against most of their fellow Bowl competitors in next seasons’ HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series qualifier tournament in Hong Kong.

“Our objective now is to win a few games and try to reach the higher end of the competition.

“We cross over with Jamaica now and they have a lot of good athletes, so we are still playing countries that we want to test ourselves against. Sevens is getting more and more difficult, so it is good to test ourselves against as many teams as possible, especially those we may meet in the World Series qualification tournament in Hong Kong next year,” John said.

Additional reporting and images: HKRU

Hong Kong Head to Rugby 7s World Cup

Hong Kong heads to the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens this weekend. The San Francisco tournament has a slightly different format in that it’s a straight knockout – there are no pool games. Lose and you go home!

Ok that’s not strictly true as in the early games lose and you drop from the Cup to the Bowl/Challenge… It puts teams in a ‘must win’ mode from the first kick-off on Friday when Hong Kong face off against Russia in their first match.

Captain Ben Rimene, fullback Jamie Hood, scrumhalf Cado Lee Ka-to, flanker Toby Fenn and wings Salom Yiu Kam-shing and Max Denmark all return to action after shutting out the Cook Islands in the fifteen-a-side Rugby World Cup 2019 qualification series decider thirteen days ago.

To ease the transition back into sevens, head coach Paul John, who coached Wales to the world title in Dubai in 2009, arranged a training match with Wales earlier this week.  Hong Kong also played in the Amsterdam Sevens and Algarve Sevens earlier this summer as a build up for the world championships.

“It was always going to be a full year for a lot of the players; what with World Cup qualification, the Sevens World Cup, the Asian Games, the Asian Sevens series, and now the final stage of the World Cup repechage upcoming. We knew this was going to be the case,” said John.

“There’s a lot going on, which is exciting for Hong Kong Rugby, but a bit tricky at times. We’ve worked closely with Leigh Jones and the fifteens programme in looking at what takes priority at which times, while trying to maintain our own processes.”

“The boys have done well to get here and it is a great opportunity for us to be in the World Cup. We want to do ourselves justice,” added John.

Three of Hong Kong’s younger elite sevens programme members, Eric Kwok Pak-na, Liam Herbert and Alessandro Nardoni, are in the squad for the World Cup where Nardoni and Herbert will win their first senior sevens caps.

“This is an incredible tournament to be a part of and gives our newer boys an opportunity to play on the big stage. I think if we can relax a bit out there this weekend, they can show a bit of what they have to offer,” John said.

Herbert, Kwok and Nardoni impressed the selectors in Europe earlier this summer according to John. “Liam went away with us to Shandong earlier this year and performed well there. He backed that up in the two tournaments in Europe. He has really impressed in training and has worked really hard,” John continued.

“Alessandro also had two good tournaments in Europe. He has been in the programme for a while but hasn’t had the opportunity to play. He has it this week. Eric’s another player, like Ali, who has just missed out on selection over the last 12 months. He played well when given the opportunity in Europe and he deserves to have a go.”

Two players, former U20s captain Hugo Stiles and experienced campaigner Lee Jones, make welcome returns from injury in the time for the World Cup.

“Hugo is looking like his old self, he is a bit of a livewire as usual. He is really looking forward to it and I’m sure it is nice for him to be back playing at full fitness. He has looked good at training and we are excited to see how he performs.”

“Lee has worked really hard to come back from an Achilles injury in Singapore in 2017. He’s trained well and played well in Shandong and Europe and it is going to be good to have him back,” John added.

Jones and fellow forwards Fenn and Michael Coverdale will be essential in what is expected to be a physical challenge from Russia.

“Russia are a settled team and a World Series team and that makes them a hard prospect. They have threats all over the park from an aggressive running point of view. They are powerful and they will be direct against us, I’m sure,” said John.

“We need to use possession wisely and take our opportunities. We need to finish every possession with as many positives as possible. If we take care of the ball, we will be in with a fighting chance, but it won’t be easy.”

“Hopefully the newer guys can relax and learn from being on this stage, it will be a great development for tournaments that we have coming up,” John added.

The squad is targeting a finish in the upper bracket, which means that they must overcome Russia.

“Before we came we discussed our main objective – to win that first game. That will put us through to the top half or two-thirds of the tournament where we will be playing against the World Series teams, which will be a great preparation for us for the Asian Games.

“If we route to the bottom eight, then our objective is to win a few games and try to reach the higher end of the competition. If we lose, we cross over with Jamaica or France I think; Jamaica have a lot of athletes here and France are on the Series, so it is still playing countries that we need to and want to test ourselves against.

“Sevens is getting more and more difficult, so no matter where we are in the tournament, it will be good to test ourselves against as many teams as possible, especially those we may meet in the World Series qualification tournament in Hong Kong next year,” John said.

Hong Kong Men’s Sevens Squad (Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018)
Ben Rimene (Captain), Salom Yiu Kam-shing, Cado Lee Ka-to, Lee Jones, Toby Fenn, Hugo Stiles, Liam Herbert, Eric Kwok Pak-na, Jamie Hood, Alessandro Nardoni, Michael Coverdale, Max Denmark.

Additional reporting and images: HKRU

RWC Japan Qualification Attempt Continues Against Cook Islands

Hong Kong take on the Cook Islands in the second of three possible qualification phases for the Rugby World Cup with a home and away series on 30 June (away) and 7 July (Hong Kong Football Club). The winner advances to a four-team repechage tournament later this year to decide the 20th spot at Japan 2019.

The Cook Islands are ranked 54th in the world, 33 spots behind Hong Kong at 21 and national coach Leigh Jones was perhaps a touch overly dramatic when he said “Not to overplay it, but it’s probably one of the most important games in Hong Kong rugby history,” ahead of the team’s departure on Wednesday night.

Hong Kong’s undefeated run in the Asia Rugby Championship earlier this month marked a successful first step on the Road to 2019, but the second is shaping up to be more sizeable, starting with a 25-hour away trip to Raratonga, Cook Islands that includes a forced 10-hour stopover in Auckland.

“It’s an horrendous trip in many ways, but we are preparing well for it. The larger problem is the time. The Cook Islands are 18 hours behind us, so it throws our body clock off significantly,” said Jones

“You can go down early and acclimatize and get your body on Cook Islands time, but then you have to travel back to Hong Kong and play here seven days later, so there is a potential that we could be kind of undercooked on both ends in terms of our body clock.”

“Luke [Davey, Head of Performance at the HKRU’s Elite Rugby Programme] and our team have been planning meticulously for this for awhile. We will do our best to stay on Hong Kong time to make the home leg adjustment much easier, which throws up a lot of logistical issues for us, but we have overcome many of them,” Jones added.

During the 10-hour stopover in Auckland the team will have a training session at the Chiefs Super Rugby franchise.

“We must thank the Chiefs High Performance Manager Chris Tindall and Dave Galbraith, their Mental Skills and Leadership Coach, for their support. The Chiefs have been magnificent in arranging things on that end to make that 10 hours as palatable as possible,” Jones added.

The match kick-offs at 3pm local time, which is 9am Hong Kong time.

“We have changed our programme over the last three weeks. We have been getting up progressively earlier, so the guys were at Football Club at 7am yesterday going flat out to ensure their bodies are okay and adjusted for what is effectively a 9am kick-off,” Jones noted.

Jones is pleased with the squad’s preparations so far. “The players are ready to go. I am glad the game is this weekend, another week and the frustration may have started building, but the timing has been pretty good for us. We had a week to rest after the ARC and then two to three weeks to train and maintain intensity. We are in a good space.”

With some players under slight injury clouds and considering the lengthy travel, Jones has opted to be safe rather than sorry in taking 25 players in the travel squad with 23 set for the final selection.

The squad includes former Under 20s star hooker Alexander Post, who was capped for Hong Kong in last year’s tour to Kenya.  Post will add cover for Ben Roberts, who picked up a niggling rib injury against Korea in the final match of the Asian championship.

“We’ve probably got eight to 10 injuries, but the guys really stepped up during the ARC and proved that they’re of the quality we need. That speaks well for the programme and our approach.”

Cook Islands had a circuitous route of their own to reach this stage. They lost to Tahiti in the Oceania qualifier, but that result was later overturned after Tahiti were found to have fielded ineligible players. The turnover in teams has left Hong Kong in the dark somewhat about what they will face on Saturday.

“We are going into the unknown to a large extent,” admitted Jones. “We’ve done our research on their players and they have some quality. Guys playing Top 14 in France, Mitre Cup in New Zealand, guys who’ve played against the British Lions in Super Rugby, so it will be challenging, particularly at forward, but we are very aware of how tough it’s going to be.”

“It’s cup rugby and we’re away from home, so we need to be smart, our discipline needs to be really good, our set piece needs to function, and we need to be playing in the right areas.

“The series will be decided on aggregate points across the two games, so we need to be really smart in how we manage the game and manage the crowd on Saturday,” Jones emphasized.

Hong Kong Squad Against Cook Islands:
James Cunningham (Captain), Daniel Barlow, Jamie Tsang, Dylan Rogers, Jack Delaforce, Nicholas Hewson, Toy Fenn, Thomas Lamboley, Liam Slatem, Matthew Rosslee, Yiu Kam-shing, Max Woodward, Jack Neville, Conor Hartley, Jamie Hood, Alexander Post, Adam Fullgrabe, Jack Parfitt, Michael Parfitt, Kane Boucaut, Cris Pierrepont, Jamie Lauder, Max Denmark, Benjamin Roberts, Lex Kaleca.

Additional reporting and images: HKRU

Dragon Boat Carnival @ Central Harbourfront – 22-24 June, 2018

The ninth Hong Kong Dragon Boat Carnival took place on Victoria Harbour at the Central Harbourfront from the 22-24 June and featured 160 teams and over 4,500 athletes from across the globe the world – including Australia, New Zealand, France, USA, Canada, Japan, Korea, Singapore, the Philippines, Malaysia, Israel, Taiwan… – competing for 27 championships.

Click on any photo to see more images

https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2018/Dragon-Boat-Carnival-Central-Harbourfront-22-24-June-2018/i-NWFPrVM

https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2018/Dragon-Boat-Carnival-Central-Harbourfront-22-24-June-2018/i-LTt77xD

https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2018/Dragon-Boat-Carnival-Central-Harbourfront-22-24-June-2018/i-QKf2zZb

https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2018/Dragon-Boat-Carnival-Central-Harbourfront-22-24-June-2018/i-BR97x8z

https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2018/Dragon-Boat-Carnival-Central-Harbourfront-22-24-June-2018/i-dK7DFBZ

Additional reporting and images: HK Tourism Board