Lacrosse U19 World Cup: 15-year-old Hannah Kwong eyes future glory after Hong Kong’s best-ever finish of 12th in Canada

Hannah Kwong Wing-yee is looking forward to showing her high school friends how much she has improved as a goalie after Hong Kong finished 12th in the women’s U19 Lacrosse World Cup in Canada.

In four years, she may be able make the same boast to her university friends. Aged just 15, Kwong will still be eligible for the Hong Kong U19 team at the 2023 edition. She was the youngest player at the tournament in Peterborough, Canada, last week as Hong Kong performed beyond expectations against the best teams in the world.

Many of the U19 squad, including Kwong, are hoping to also represent Hong Kong at the 2021 World Cup in Maryland, in the US.

“I think we definitely all outperformed our expectations,” said Kwong, who studies at Cheltenham Ladies College in England. “I’m incredibly proud of all of us. It’s definitely been an eye-opening experience playing on the world stage, we all handled the pressure really well.

“We have learned to rely on each other and work from the pressure that the crowd was giving us. I surprised myself because I’m quite young and this is the first time I’m playing under such great pressure.

“I’m working towards the 2021 World Cup and next 2023 U19 World Cup as well and I cannot wait to go back to school and show how far I have gone,” said Kwong, who started playing lacrosse at 12.

Hong Kong scored victories over Israel (11-7) and Belgium (22-1) in their group, losing to Native American team Haudenosaunee (24-5) and Puerto Rico (21-2) to finish with a 2-2 record.

In the opening round of the play-offs, they lost 25-0 to eventual champions the US and were left fighting for eighth to 18 places. A thrilling 10-9, double-overtime victory over Czech Republic, followed by losses to Haudenosaunee (20-5) and Scotland (11-10) ensured they would finish 12th.

Hong Kong U19 coach Jane Karger was happy with her team’s performance, saying the players are ready to step up to the next level thanks to the growing popularity of lacrosse in the city.

“One of the main targets is to compete at a high level and really push the boundaries of where Hong Kong lacrosse has been, and I think it is an amazing feat [to finish 12th].

“The girls have been working super hard and playing at a level that is tremendous for the experience level that they have and proving to the world that we have a lot of potential in Hong Kong and we are developing a lot.”

Karger said the three victories at the World Cup showed Hong Kong players have the skills to compete at a high level.

“The basic skill levels have grown leaps and bounds in the last couple of years since I’ve been involved in Hong Kong lacrosse,” she said. “I think the work with getting lacrosse in the schools and with younger players playing has been really amazing and really developing the teamwork, expectation and understanding of the game.

“Having the youth really starting to play in Hong Kong is only going to take Hong Kong higher in the lacrosse world.

“[Hong Kong needs to] continue to get the kids playing and developing basic skills and giving them more exposure to different tournaments around the world and have U19 players in the senior squad.”