Hong Kong will have to travel a rocky road in their bid to win a medal in the seven-a-side rugby competition at October's Asian Games in Pusan, South Korea. The SAR were drawn with Japan, China and Taiwan in a group which Hong Kong coach Jim Walker labelled as 'hard'. 'It is a very tough group and all the games will be hard. The only plus factor is that we have played regularly against both China and Taiwan and know what to expect,' Walker said yesterday. The other half of the draw will comprise Korea, winners of the gold medal at the last Asian Games in Bangkok, bronze medallists Thailand, Sri Lanka and Malaysia. The sevens tournament will be played on September 30-October 1. Hong Kong finished fifth in Bangkok, trailing Korea, Japan, Thailand and Taiwan. The Japanese will be clear favourites to win Hong Kong's group and with the SAR having never beaten Taiwan at this level, it will take an exceptional effort to be in the running for a medal. 'We have played China on six occasions and the record stands at 50-50. But we have never beaten Taiwan. We will definitely be the underdogs but I don't think we will be intimidated by that,' Walker added. A 16-strong squad is currently in training. With head coach Chris Roden back from a short break in New Zealand, the squad will meet this weekend for a camp in Sai Kung. Preparations will go into over-drive when they leave for a training camp in Korea from August 9-11. Most of the squad will take part in the Jonah Jones Sevens in Malaysia in the last weekend of August followed by a final dress rehearsal at the Sri Lanka Sevens in early September. 'With the emphasis being on 15s and the World Cup qualifiers last season, most of the squad have not played competitive sevens for a long time and we need as much match practice as possible,' said Walker. The 16-strong squad will be cut to 12 around mid-August. Asian Games Sevens Draw Group A: Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, Sri Lanka. Group B: Japan, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan.