A fortnight ago, scrumhalf Josh Peters led the Hong Kong under-20 rugby squad to a runners-up place at the Asian Sevens Championship in Johor Baharu, Malaysia. You could almost hear the champagne corks popping at the headquarters of the Hong Kong Rugby Football Union. The result may have come at a junior event but the ramifications for the sport at all levels are enormous.
What it means is millions of extra dollars to develop the game here because rugby sevens is now eligible to become the 16th elite discipline at the Hong Kong Sports Institute. The benchmark by which a sport becomes suitable for S.I. status is made up of two results each from the senior and junior levels. Rugby sevens has ticked all the boxes.
Now rugby officials will have to play a waiting game because the selection process is lengthy and somewhat convoluted. The first step is that results achieved by any Olympic and Asian Games sport during the biennial review period - January 2011 to December 2012 - will be considered for elite sport status for the next four-year support cycle (2013-2017).
These results collected from the national sports associations will be submitted to the Elite Sports Committee for its consideration and recommendation to the Sports Commission for a final decision. The ESC will then inform the HKSI of the results of the evaluation and decision-making process. So the fate of rugby sevens now lies in the hands of 15 individuals comprising the ESC. What they recommend is usually accepted.
The ESC is led by chairman Frank Fu Hoo-kin, and includes vice-chairman and former champion cyclist Hung Chung-yam; former badminton ace Amy Chan Lim-chee; Sports Institute squash head coach Tony Choi Yuk-kwan; and Hong Kong Olympic Committee secretary general Pang Chung. There are also three representatives from the Home Affairs Bureau, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department and the Education Bureau.
We can't foresee any problems for rugby sevens. The sport has endeared itself to the community by its medal-winning exploits at the 2010 Asian Games and the 2009 East Asian Games - both times Hong Kong won silver. Rugby also has the support of Sports Institute chief executive Trisha Leahy, who believes team sports are 'an essential and important component of any successful sports system, and we would be particularly delighted to be able to welcome rugby into the HKSI'.