Youth Olympics place should be given to Hong Kong, say officials
Senior officials back city to represent Asia at the Games in Nanjing in 2014 instead of Japan
Hong Kong, and not Japan, should represent Asia when rugby sevens makes its mini-Olympic debut at the Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing next year, said a top official of the Hong Kong Olympic Committee.
Pang Chung, secretary general of the Hong Kong Sports Federation and Olympic Committee, has called for Hong Kong's inclusion on the basis of the gold medal performance of the boys under-17 team at last month's Asian Youth Games.
We were very impressed with the Hong Kong boys team. They proved on the field that they deserve to be at the Youth Olympics.
"We have written to the IRB asking them if Hong Kong, as winners of the inaugural rugby sevens competition at the Asian Youth Games, can represent Asia at the Youth Olympics next year," said Pang.
"We were very impressed with the Hong Kong boys team. They proved on the field that they deserve to be at the Youth Olympics and I hope the IRB can revisit its decision to award the spot to Japan."
Only six places are up for grabs when rugby sevens makes its debut at the Youth Olympic Games. The IRB decided that the highest-ranked teams from each region at the World Cup in Moscow would win a spot; Japan finished above Hong Kong and is thus Asia's representative.
But Pang argues that the World Cup was a senior competition, unlike the Asian Youth Games, and the fact Hong Kong finished above Japan in the youth tournament is more relevant.