Opinion

We know who’s No 1 and Hong Kong Sevens just showed the world (and Singapore) why ... again

Leaked report suggested Singapore and Vancouver were leading the way but Saturday showed Hong Kong is fighting back, even if it did not need to

Friday night’s Gwen Stefani show and Saturday’s Queen cover band rocking half-time part of improved entertainment

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A packed South Stand at its most crazy on the second day at the Hong Kong Sevens. Photo: Roy Issa

Formerly of the South China Morning Post, Jonathan White has written about sport from China for nearly 15 years, and covered the Beijing 2008 Olympics, the Fifa World Cup in Brazil in 2014 and the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Published: 8:32pm, 6 Apr 2019Updated: 11:10pm, 6 Apr 2019

There are those who will have seen a Queen tribute act as the half-time entertainment at the Cathay Pacific/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens and turned up their noses.

You might assume that a faux Freddie Mercury on the microphone and a guitarist with a wig so obvious that he was more of a Brian Maybe than Brian May would fail to impress after the big names on show in years gone by.

However, just like the critics panning the recent Mercury biopic to the complete disregard of the cinema going public, you’d be wrong.

The South Stand, which is rightly or wrongly the barometer of the Hong Kong Sevens, lapped it right up. The band might have only played three songs – I Want To Break Free, Radio Gaga and a show-stopping Bohemian Rhapsody – but they got the crowd on their feet and belting out all of the words that they knew.

A performer dressed as Freddie Mercury entertains at Hong Kong Stadium. Photo: Benjamin Sieur

As for the South Stand, they did all that and more, collectively doing their best to recreate those viral videos from last summer’s World Cup where the fans lose their collective minds and their pints whenever a goal was scored.