Hong Kong opened its FIFAe Nations Cup Asia and Oceania division one campaign with a shock draw with leaders Australia on Friday. But the newly promoted team struggled beyond their single win in the third round of the overarching FIFAe Series 2022 Play-in qualifiers – where teams are competing for one of 24 spots in the FIFAe Nations Series (PS5 console). A 2-2 draw in the first leg against regional titans India looked to get Hong Kong off to a flyer, but they could not repeat it in the second, losing 4-1 overall. Then came one of the surprises of the tournament so far, as Hong Kong drew 3-3 with Australia across two legs. Ronnie Yau Man-lung (NovaRonnie23) and Lau Tsz-hei (whatthefind) beat Dylan Campbell (DylanCampbell) and Ryan Naylor (Naylor) in the first tie 3-2, before losing to the pair 3-1 in the return. It is considered a big achievement for Hong Kong’s still-developing FIFAe scene given Australia’s scintillating tournament form and Campbell’s 80 per cent win rate over his past 20 games. The more-experienced 27-year-old Yau of Nova Esports Team led the way while teammate Lau of Cool Gaming – who holds a recent win rate of 29 per cent – managed to hold his own. However, the result is unlikely to affect world rankings as Hong Kong actually sit one place above Australia. Disappointing losses to Singapore 4-1 and Malaysia 6-0 closed out Hong Kong’s round. They finished bottom of the group with five points, which will see them and Singapore drop back into division two next week. Hong Kong impressed in division two last week, beating South Korea and New Zealand to earn a promotion to division one alongside Malaysia, also shooting up the calculated “consistency ranking”. Singapore picked up an additional 4 points in match day two of the third round of FIFAe Nations Play-Ins this evening. With a total of 11 points, Singapore finished in forth place in Division 1 of the Asia and Oceania region. pic.twitter.com/5hhJCqzUHM — FAS (@FASingapore) March 11, 2022 Its opening round one did not go to plan, however, as they received drubbings from Singapore and Australia. Despite qualifying playoffs being in full swing, organisers have yet to confirm the dates and locations of this year’s Nations Series. Teams can qualify for the play-offs by either winning first place in the division one play-ins after round four, or by clocking the highest consistency points in the region. Points are based on results, divisions and standings. What a day yesterday was, but we are not done yet! 🤩 We’ve got one more day before week 3 of the #FeNS qualifier comes to an end 👏 Check the full schedule on https://t.co/5Dotna6kr8 👇 pic.twitter.com/6Q9KA9X7Jg — FIFAe (@FIFAe) March 11, 2022 The FIFAe Nations Cup 2021 slated for Copenhagen was cancelled because of coronavirus pandemic restrictions. France won the inaugural event in 2019. The team was selected based on performances at the local Hong Kong Football Association eFootball Open last December. Hong Kong sit 37th in the March-updated world rankings. Kenny Yung Shing-long (LoNg_YSL) won the final, with Yau, Lau, Yip Suen-chi (siuchijai) and Ken Ho Ka-ming (HK__KEN) also selected to represent the city in the multi-continent qualifiers through the year. The quintet are also front-runners to become part of Hong Kong’s debuting Asian Games esports contingent in September. Fifa will be one of eight games at the Hangzhou Games and Hong Kong has previously won a gold medal in a demonstration sports event at the 2018 Asian Games. Hong Kong Esports Association founding president Eric Yeung Chuen-sing said he expected “more than 20 gamers” to represent the city at the Games .