They come from far and wide to watch the Sevens and not just the fans. The journalists, photographers and broadcasters are also a diverse and culturally rich bunch. Two Hindi-language radio stations are among the 375 accredited media, while a veteran Fijian announcer who started covering the Sevens in 1977 is back again. There's a healthy Sri Lankan contingent plus Koreans, Japanese, British, French, Americans... you name it. A Bulgarian journalist would have been here as well, but his visa fell through at the last minute and he was left stranded in an Italian airport. 'Considering the tough economic times and the recent Sevens World Cup, it's a very strong turnout,' says Hong Kong Sevens media consultant Sean Moore, who had to turn away 35 reporters and photographers because of limits on numbers. Graham Eden, from Fiji Broadcasting, is providing commentaries on more than 25 matches to satisfy an almost insatiable interest across Fiji's 30 inhabited islands. On his first visit here 32 years ago, he called the action as Fiji beat Marlborough in the final to win the first of their 11 titles. 'I've always loved coming to Hong Kong,' the New Zealand-born Eden said. 'I've seen this tournament grow into the immense attraction that now sets the pace for all sevens tournaments around the world.' Today, the Sevens is televised in Fiji but Eden's commentaries are still popular. In some remote areas, his broadcasts are recorded and used in class as a guide for English language lessons. 'Once I was asked to explain what I meant when I said 'a rat up a drainpipe' in one of my commentaries,' he laughed. Eden, a former teacher and rugby referee who emigrated to Fiji in 1961, turns 74 in September, and says he is considering stepping down from the microphone after the 2011 World Cup. New Zealand's sizeable Hindi-speaking population is being serviced by Auckland radio stations APNA 990 and Radio Tarana. They've both sent representatives to Hong Kong. APNA 990 claims an audience in excess of 100,000. 'Interest is big,' says APNA 990's Satendra Kumar. 'The Indians from Fiji are very interested, while the Indian nationals are also listening in and catching up, although cricket is still number-one for them.' Salmeen Khan, broadcaster for Radio Tarana, said that rugby fans in Canada, the US and even India were also tuning into their coverage, via the Internet. 'We're starting to get e-mails from India telling us that they're enjoying our rugby coverage,' Khan said. The economic downturn saw Colombo-based advertising photographer Thusith Wijedoru apply for his Hong Kong Sevens accreditation and take action shots from the sideline for Lanka Rugby Magazine. 'The work in advertising has slowed down but there will always be sports and rugby is a nice niche market, so why not?' he said. Hindi-language stations covering this year's event total: 2 Media accreditation has been so tight this many requests were rejected: 35 Graham Eden first covered the event 32 years ago. He's: 73 The media interest is such that journalists and photographers total: 375
