'We have earned our place at the Asian Games. The guys really played well and it was a great effort'
Doha, here we come! Alex Gibbs and his band of merry men can proudly look forward to taking part in the Asian Games in December after the SAR won the qualifying sevens tournament in sweeping style at the Hong Kong Football Club last night.
Hong Kong have taken part in the sevens competition at previous Asian Games. But this was the first time that they had to qualify for it. And they did it in fine fashion, scoring 134 points and conceding just two tries as they defeated Singapore, Kazakhstan and Malaysia to book the solitary ticket to the Doha Games.
'We have earned our place at the Asian Games. The guys really played well and it was a great effort from the entire squad. I just can't wait to get back into training for Doha now,' smiled thrilled Hong Kong captain Gibbs afterwards.
Hong Kong will join South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, China, Sri Lanka, Thailand and hosts Qatar in the eight-team competition at the Asian Games from December 1-15. The rest of the sides earned automatic berths.
Hong Kong had to do it the hard way - by going out and beating Singapore 29-0, Kazakhstan 31-0 and Malaysia 24-0 in the round robin competition. They then met Malaysia once more in the final and romped to a massive 50-14 victory.