Hong Kong women’s sevens side relish opportunity to relive buzz of Friday night cauldron
Coach Anna Richards says that although they have been hit by injuries to key players like Christy Cheng and Royce Chan, her charges can reach the semis again
The Olympic qualifiers back in November gave the women’s squad a taste for what it’s like to play at the Hong Kong Stadium in front of a crowd that is pretty much totally behind them.
It was an experience that ended with Hong Kong finishing third, but buzzing.
And coach Anna Richards says her squad has ever since hungered for more of the same – and for the opportunity to run out in front of 40,000 baying locals, instead of the around 10,000 that turned up for those qualifiers.
The girls love playing in front of their home crowd and believe me there would be nothing better than for us to run out there on the Friday night
The draw on Monday for the Hong Kong Women’s Rugby Sevens offered plenty of hope for her charges, too.
OK, so Hong Kong have Japan in pool B, but perennial nigglers China and Kazakhstan are in pool A and that leaves Thailand and Sri Lanka to face before the semi-finals are set in stone.
Once again the pool matches for the women will be played at King’s Park on April 7 and Hong Kong Football Club on April 8 before the final at Hong Kong Stadium in front of the usual raucous Friday night crowd.
