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Afghanistan Humble Hong Kong Inside Two Days

Afghanistan thrashed Hong Kong by an innings and 173 runs inside two days as the hosts who went into the match confident of giving the Afghans a game were humbled.

Afghanistan Captain Ashgar Stanikzai (58*) and Rahmat Shah (34*) resumed at the crease with Afghanistan already holding a 128 run lead going into the second days play (270-2). Stanikzai bought up an excellent century with another towering 6 over the leg side as Hong Kong were made to pay dearly in dropping him the evening before.

Shah also made his way through to a well compiled 50 as the lead grew past 200. Ehsan Khan made the breakthrough with Shah being well caught at long off by Waqas Khan for 57 (363-3). Nizakat Khan was bought on to bowl and had instant success with Stanikzai being well caught by Anshuman Rath for 125 off 129 balls (367-4).

Mohammad Nabi and Nasir Jamal set out after the lunch break with positive intent with Nabi in particular taking full value of the short straight boundaries in bringing up a superb half century off just 39 balls including five 6s.

Nabi fell for 63 off 44 balls with Kyle Christie picking up his first wicket of the innings and with that the declaration came with Afghanistan finishing on 465-5 (lead of 323 on first innings).

Matt Stiller and Chris Carter returned to the crease with Hong Kong 323 behind on first innings and 57 overs left in the day. Dawlat Zadran got Afghanistan off to the best possible start by dismissing Carter first ball of the innings.

Dawlat proceeded to bowl with hostility and pace and was rewarded with the wicket of Hong Kong captain Babar Hayat (18) courtesy of a top edged pull to Nasir Jamal at mid-wicket. Stiller moments after being struck two painful blows by Zadran became Rashid Khan’s firstwicket of the innings stumped for 4. Nizakat Khan Retired hurt on 10 after a blow to his hand fending off another fast short pitched delivery from the rampaging Zadran and at this point Hong Kong were teetering on 39-3. Rath and Waqas Khan guided Hong Kong through to Tea with no further loss finishing on 56-3 a deficit of 267.

Nabi removed Waqas Khan immediately after tea and Rashid Khan once again came to the fore dismissing the returning Nizakat Khan lbw for 26. (88-5). Anshuman Rath continued to bat with maturity and fought hard against the Afghanistan spin attack whilst wickets continued to tumble at the other end.

Rath bought up a deserved half century and remained undefeated on 59 when Kyle Christie became the last wicket to fall. Hong Kong were bowled out in their second innings for 150 and Afghanistan were comprehensive winners by an innings and 173 runs.

Rashid Khan (AFG) was declared as Man of the Match for his figures of 5-65 and 2-45.

Afghanistan 465 for 5 dec (Stanikzai 125, Ahmadi 108) beat Hong Kong 142 (Hayat 39, Rashid 5-65) & 150 (Rath 59*, Zahir 4-16) by an innings and 173 runs.

Additional reporting and images: HK Cricket

Gai Wu Falcons 44-5 CWB Phoenix @ Shek Kip Mei – 21 October, 2017

In the third game of Women’s Premiership Super Saturday the unbeaten Gai Wu Falcons take on CWB Phoenix who have started the season strongly.

Early on it’s Gai Wu making the play deep in the CWB half but the final passes aren’t sticking and some organised defence is keeping the Falcons out. Lau Nga Wu though finishes off a strong move to score the game’s first try after 5 minutes which Tsz Ting Lee converts. Two minutes later it’s Lee herself breaking clear deep in her own half and running almost 70m for the Falcons second try, 12-0.

CWB are pressing Gai Wu deep in their own half and working through the phases only to be penalised as they looked likely to score. A quickly taken penalty and a long pass wide out to winger Abigail Chan who run 70m for the Falcons third try inside 15 minutes, 17-0.

The Falcons are not yet as ruthless as Valley in racking up the points and a combination of handling errors and solid rugby allow CWB to exert some pressure inside the Falcons 22. A high tackle gives Phoenix another chance, but they can’t take advantage against some solid defence.

https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2017/Gai-Wu-Falcons-v-CWB-Phoenix-Shek-Kip-Mei-21-October-2017/i-tZpTN7D

Gai Wu’s scrum is working well and the forwards are helping the backline spread CWB from left to right as the Falcons look for a fourth try before half-time. A scrum on the 22 almost yields it, and on the second attempt it’s Chan again who scores in the corner, 22-0.

The Falcons almost add a fifth as they win a scrum against the head on the halfway line and the backs look certain to score but See Wai June Au puts in a superb tackle that saves a certain 5 points as the whistle goes to leave the score 22-0 at half-time.

The Phoenix defence holds firm at the start of the second half as the Falcons work to extend their lead. Moving the ball from right to left Gai Wu looks again to stretch the defence and finally there’s an overlap for Lo Pui Shan to scamper in unopposed for a fifth try, 27-0. Two minutes later another slick backline move releases Ka Yan Chong who runs 50m to score, 32-0.

Off the deep restart CWB have Gai Wu throwing tackling hard to dampen the Phoenix’s flames. But the CWB forwards are being careful of the ball. Working the phases and finally a lovely pass releases Lam Kai Wai and CWB are on the scoreboard, 32-5.

https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2017/Gai-Wu-Falcons-v-CWB-Phoenix-Shek-Kip-Mei-21-October-2017/i-rsjsDg9

Gai Wu kick the restart deep, but the try has visible lifted CWB who are quicker to the ball and looking to work their way out of their own 22. A knock-on gives the Falcons an attacking platform infront of the posts and the forwards take advantage. A strong scrum has CWB going backwards and it’s easy for Ka Shun Lee to score close to the posts, 37-5.

CWB look to finish the game strongly and a beautiful one arm take sees Wong Man Yan break the Falcons line. Solid support has the Falcons pushed back and only some solid tackling is keeping Phoenix out. CWB though turn over the ball and three passes later it’s in Chong’s hands and the winger races 80m for a simple try which Poon Pak Yan converts, 44-5.

The Phoenix though are not finished and Gai Wu spend the last part of the game defending close to their line, the pressure getting to the defence with Chan Ka Yan receiving a yellow card for a high tackle. A solid team win for the Gai Wu Falcons 44-5 against an improving CWB Phoenix.

CWB Phoenix
Tsang Siu Ching, Tin Yan, Dora Chim, T Chin Po Po, Chan Yan Yi, Hau Yan, Tina Ho, Sin Man Ng, Tsang Ching Man, Ka Ling Martini Ip, Au To, Kwok ‘Dira’ Yuk Lin, Chan Po Tung, Kong ‘Koko’ Yin Ting, Chan Ka Wai, Lam Ka Wai, See Wai June Au,
Reserve: Kwan Ki Chan, Wong Man Yan, Ka Ki Cheung, Li Man Yi, Ng Wing Yee, Wong Sze Man
Tries: Lam Kai Wai

Gai Wu Falcons
Ka Shun Lee, Ka Wai Lam, Debby, Tammy Lau, Ka Yin Wong, Sharon Shin Yuen Tsang, Hiu Ki Yip, Yee Ching Chan, Yan Chan, Suet Ying Wong, Tsz Ting Lee, Lo ‘Maxson’ Pui Shan, Hoi Lam Ho (C), Wing See Chiu, Pak Yan Poon, Abigail Chan
Reserve: Cherry Ng Ki Sum Ball, Wai Yan Pun, Kayan Chong, Lai Pui Shan, Tsz Yung Ching
Tries: Ka Shun Lee, Ka Yan Chong (2), Lau Nga Wu, Tsz Ting Lee, Abigail Chan (2), Lo Pui Shan,
Conversions: Tsz Ting Lee, Poon Pak Yan

https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2017/Gai-Wu-Falcons-v-CWB-Phoenix-Shek-Kip-Mei-21-October-2017/i-j8MvmgX

畢馬威女子欖球超級聯賽”超級星期六”的第三場賽事,由未敗一場的CPM 雞糊鷹隊(雞糊)對SCAA第一太平銅鑼灣鳳凰欖球會(鳳凰)。比賽初段,雞糊在鳳凰的半場內作戰。由劉雅媛首個達陣,並由李紫晴踢入。兩分鐘後,李紫晴衝破防守線,持球70米達陣,12比0。

鳳凰把雞糊壓在自己的半場內,可惜不小心犯規,令邊防球員陳柏鈴直跑70米,為雞糊得到第三個入球,17比0。

相比起華利,雞糊還是有很多持球和控球的錯誤犯規,這給予鳳凰很多反擊的機會。在雞糊的22米線,一個過高的危險攔截,鳳凰的反攻機會來了,可惜還是敵不過雞糊緊密的防守,機會錯失。

雞糊爭球方面做得非常好, 陳柏鈴為雞糊在上半場完場前取得了第四個入球,22比0。本來雞糊在再次爭球成功後可以再有一個入球,但被See Wai June Au漂亮的攔截,為鳳凰解除了入球的危機。

下半場,鳳凰努力防守。雞糊把球由右邊一路傳到左邊,尋找進攻機會,最後由羅佩珊看到兩人重疊,衝出達陣,27比0。兩分鐘後,同一戰術,莊嘉欣持球50米達陣,32比0。

鳳凰開球,雞糊奮力攔截,但前鋒們努力護着球前進,看到機會,傳球給林嘉慧, 鳳凰隊第一個入球,32比5。

雞糊開球,大腳踢入鳳凰22米線,鳳凰努力前進,可惜持球失誤,加上爭球失敗,李嘉萓近距離達陣, 37比5。

鳳凰努力反攻,Wong Man Yan衝破防線,可惜不敵攔截,最後由邊防球員直跑80米達陣,潘柏茵踢入,44比5。

鳳凰雖然落後,但從不放棄。最後15分鐘,鳳凰仍然把雞糊壓迫在他們的22米內,壓力令Ka Yan Chan犯規,首個黃牌。完場44比5。

Gai Wu

1. 劉雅媛, 2. 林嘉慧, 3. 李嘉萓, 4. 黃家妍, 5. 曾善茵, 6. 葉曉琪, 7. 陳以靜, 8. 陳嘉欣, 9. 王雪盈, 10. 李紫晴, 11. 潘柏茵, 12. 何凱琳, 13. 趙穎思, 14. 羅佩珊, 15. 陳柏鈴
Reserve: 16. 潘慧欣, 17. 吳其芯, 18. 程子容 , 19. 黎珮珊, 20. 莊嘉欣

https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2017/Gai-Wu-Falcons-v-CWB-Phoenix-Shek-Kip-Mei-21-October-2017/i-mB4BHsM

Images: bc magazine, hkru

Afghanistan Dominate Day 1 in Mong Kok

Afghanistan dominated the first days play of the four day ICC Intercontinental Cup match at Tin Kwong Road dismissing Hong Kong for 142 and ending the day 128 runs ahead with 8 wickets in hand.

Hong Kong captain Babar Hayat won the toss and elected to bat first on a wicket that looked easy paced and good for batting. Kyle Christie and Haroon Arshad made their debut in the competition and received their cap from Head Coach Simon Cook before the start of play.

Stiller and Carter opened the batting for Hong Kong with Stiller the first to go caught behind by Zazai off Dawlat Zadran for 6 leaving the hosts 21-1. Carter and Hayat set out to rebuild the innings and Carter looked solid whilst playing some elegant strokes through the offside. Rashid Khan entered the attack and made the second breakthrough with Carter being trapped lbw for 21 (41-2).

Hayat and Nizakat Khan put together a 43 run partnership with Hayat showing his intent by launching 2 huge sixes off Rashid that landed in the nearby housing estate and police station. Rashid wasn’t to be outdone and came back well to remove Hayat lbw for 39 (84-3). The Hong Kong middle order then succumbed to some excellent spin bowling from Rashid and Nabi. 84-3 soon became 97-7 and Hong Kong had lost all of their earlier momentum. Waqas Khan and Waqas Barkat fought hard to try and bring some respectability to the score with both players making 23. Kyle Christie was last man out for 2 as Hong Kong crumbled to a dismal 142 all out in just 47 overs. Rashid Khan (5-65) and Dawlat Zadran (3-15) were the standout bowlers for Afghanistan.

Afghanistan’s opening pair of Ahmadi and Ihsanullah strode out to the middle and from the offset and made their intent known with some excellent strokes through the offside. Hayat tried different bowling combinations but all to no avail as the 50 and 100 partnership were bought up with boundaries flowing down the ground and through the offside field. Ihsanullah and Ahmadi both bought up their half centuries before Ihsanullah was caught by the captain Hayat off the bowling of Rath for a well-made 63 (124-1). The hard hitting Shah arrived at the crease and set his stall out by striking two 6s in his first 5 balls. Afghanistan passed Hong Kong’s first innings of 142 with 9 wickets in hand and were well set going into the final hour of play on Day 1.

Javed Ahmadi went on to make an excellent century and was unfortunate to become the second wicket of the innings when Kyle Christie managed to get a finger end on one off his own bowling which left Ahmadi short of his ground at the non-strikers crease for a well-made 108 off 113 balls (203-2). Afghanistan captain Ashgar Stanikzai ended day 1 with a flourish and made his way to an aggressive 38 ball half century. Hong Kong will be frustrated with 2-3 dropped catches late in the day, a day which went perfectly for the visitors as they closed on 270-2 with Stanikzai 58 and Shah 34 the not out batsmen.

Hong Kong v Afghanistan – 4 Day Game
Date: 20-23 October, 2017
Venue: Tin Kwong Road Recreation Ground
Tickets: Free

Additional reporting/images: HK Cricket

Women’s Premiership Super Saturday @ Shek Kip Mei

Unbeaten Valley Black will look to shake off the rust after the bye week when they take on City Sparkle in the finale of the first Women’s Premiership Super Saturday of the season.

The Valley – City clash will be preceded by Kowloon versus HKFC Ice (13:30), Tai Po Dragons versus USRC Tigers (15:00) and CWB Phoenix versus Gai Wu Falcons (16:30) in a showcase of women’s rugby at Sheki Kip Mei.

Despite the top versus bottom of the table match-up, Valley coach Bella Milo is taking nothing for granted as she puts her charges back to work in the women’s premiership.

“Coming back after the break we need to get a few things right,” said Milo. “Against Causeway Bay we struggled with some of our plays. Our handling and our combinations were not going right, so we’ll be using this game to get those set as we’ve got a big game next week [against HKFC].”

Milo’s estimation of struggling in last round’s 58-0 win over Causeway Bay demonstrates the relentless attitude that has seen Valley run the table for three seasons running – and that fiercely competitive approach will be on display against City.

“We’ll put out our strongest squad, based on their performance in training,” Milo confirmed. “There will be places for one or two newer players to replace a couple of injuries and we are pleased to have “Frenchie” [Amelie Seure] back from sevens duty. I want to use this game to get a better gauge of the players.”

Valley currently top the table on 15 points while fellow undefeated side Gai Wu Falcons are a point off the pace in second, and four points ahead of Tigers. The Falcons will play fourth-ranked Causeway Bay, whose scoring has been prolific this season but who have let themselves down in defence, scoring 79 points but conceding 76.

The Tigers can leap up the table if they can dispatch sixth-ranked Tai Po Dragons but with Valley and Falcons playing in what are potentially mismatches they may find themselves treading water in third place come Sunday.

Kowloon will be hoping that their offense can fire after a series of close-run affairs, as they hunt for their first win of the season against Football Club after scoring just 10 points across the opening three matches.

Entry is Free! There are also Women’s National League 1 and 1 games taking place. Support women’s rugby!

Additional reporting: hkru
Images: Takumi Photography

Women’s Rugby Fixtures – 21 October, 2017

Women’s Rugby Results – 14 October, 2017

National League 1

Valley Red 31-21 USRC Tigers
@ Happy Valley, Kick-off: 16:30

HK Scottish Kukris 22-5 Tai Po Dragons
@ HKIED Kick-off: 18:00

Gai Wu Fawkes 77-0 HKCC
@ King’s Park, Kick-off: 18:00

National League 2

Gai Wu Hawks 0-39 HKFC Fire
@ KG V, Kick-off: 16:30

University 10-37 Tin Shui Wai
@ Sandy Bay, Kick-off: 16:30

Kowloon 24-10 Police Sirens
@ Police Boundary Street, Kick-off: 18:00

CWB Lammergeier 36-0 City
@ Happy Valley, Kick-off: 18:00

Images: Takumi Photography

Scallywag Stumbles As Mapfre Win Alicante In-port Race

Local boat Xabi Fernández’s Mapfre were a popular winner in the first point scoring race of the 2017-18 Volvo Ocean Race.

Fernández and his team made a bold call at the start to duck behind the entire fleet in order to sail up what turned out to be the favoured right hand side of the course, coming from behind to earn a narrow lead at the first gate.

“It was pretty clear from Joan (Vila) and Rob (Greenhalgh) that we wanted to hit the right side of the course in the first upwind looking for more breeze,” explained Fernández. “Our intention was to start on port but Pablo (Arrarte) saw the gap himself when Brunel did a poor tack and they couldn’t accelerate so we want for the cross and we had plenty of room and once we hit the right everything went well.”

Mapfre sailed away to establish a lead of nearly one-minute at the bottom gate, giving them a lead they would enjoy the rest of the way.

“The truth is it hasn’t been an easy race but we took a bit of a risk at the start,” Fernández said after the finish. “We saw the gap in front of Brunel and we went for it. Everything went really well.”

In fact, the Spanish team sailed a flawless race, in terms of strategy and execution, and were never threatened after grabbing the lead at the first mark.

But behind them, it was a hard-fought race. Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag was strong on the first leg, but dropped back over the course of the race. In contrast, Dongfeng Race Team fought up the fleet to grab second place, battling with Vestas 11th Hour Racing and Team Brunel who were trading places throughout the race.

“There was a lot of action! Mapfre played their own game alone but behind them, we had a big fight for second place. It’s good, it’s good,” said skipper Charles Caudrelier on Dongfeng Race Team.

“We showed how we can sail well, after having not such good results in the last few days. It’s great that we managed to come back and get this result.”

“It was a very exciting first In-Port Race for us,” said Charlie Enright, the skipper of Vestas 11th Hour Racing. “They’re always really close. You know, when you’re racing these 65-foot canting keel boats around a one-mile track it gets interesting, with a lot of exchanges and big headsails and a lot of grinding. We did some good things and some bad things and got third place. All in all, not a bad way to start the campaign.”

“I had a bad start and that put us on the back foot,” said Bouwe Bekking the skipper of Team Brunel. “But we sailed the boat very nicely. All in all, we’re pretty happy with how we sailed today.”

Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag made a late gain to grab fifth over team AkzoNobel with Turn the Tide on Plastic never recovering from a poor first leg.

“It was okay. Fifth’s not great but it was okay. We were second at the top but we just made one mistake on the first run and it cost us. Basically, it was good. Amazing to be racing here in Alicante,” said David Witt, the skipper of Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag.

Volvo Ocean In-Port Race Alicante Provisional Results

Position	Team	Elapsed Time	Points
1	MAPFRE	54:38	7
2	Dongfeng Race Team	56:06	6
3	Vestas 11th Hour Racing	56:54	5
4	Team Brunel	57:13	4
5	Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag	58:07	3
6	team AkzoNobel	58:31	2
7	Turn the Tide on Plastic	59:39	1

Additional reporting and images: Volvo Ocean Race, Pedro Martinez, Ainhoa Sanchez

Volvo Ocean Race First In-port Race Featuring Hong Kong’s Scallywag

The first official racing of the 2017-18 Volvo Ocean Race takes place on the 14 October with the first In-Port race in the start port of Alicante.

Who will win the first points scoring event of the race? The start gun is at 14:00 local time (12:00 UTC) as seven of the best sailing teams in the world push hard to lay down a marker ahead of the main race start.

“You always go out and want to win,” said Bouwe Bekking, skipper of Team Brunel, who will have Alberto (Albi) Bolzan on the helm for the race. “He’s an excellent helmsman. He has a lot of hours driving these boats but he’s also one of the smaller guys on board and it’s important to have power on the winches for these in-port races.”

“I think the most important thing for the in-port race is to treat it as practice for the race start for the offshore leg,” said Charles Caudrelier, speaking from experience after starting behind the fleet on the Prologue leg. “Even on the long legs, the start is important… it helps the team to be confident to get the lead early.”

“A lot of the sailors on our team come from short course racing,” said Dee Caffari the skipper on Turn the Tide on Plastic. “So they get a real buzz out of this. They’re all over this style of racing. I have to remind them that a Volvo Ocean 65 takes a bit longer to manoeuvre and we can’t go as close to the other boats as they’re used to, so I have to manage expectations a bit!”

The In-Port Race Alicante is two laps of a windward-leeward course, set with a target time of 45-minutes. The course is set up with a gate system, with two top (windward) marks and two bottom (leeward) marks.

In Friday’s practice session, MAPFRE took the win over Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag, who impressed with their best showing, and Vestas 11th Hour Racing, who took third place, completing the podium.

Additional reporting and images: Volvo Ocean Race