Many firsts and new faces as rugby, racing finally share stage on Hong Kong 7s week
Women’s player Haruka Uematsu, four men to make debuts at Kai Tak Stadium; Happy Valley to stage meeting on Wednesday
Hong Kong Jockey Club spent more than a decade working to convince the city’s rugby community they should be allowed to play a part in sevens week – the two sides finally came together on Sunday for the start of eight days when athletes of all stripes will thunder across different types of turf.
The men and women who will represent the city at Kai Tak Stadium formed the centrepiece of the event at Sha Tin Racecourse, and for several, including women’s debutant Haruka Uematsu, it will be their first experience of a Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens at pitch level.
Others, such as Mike Coverdale, who will be winning his 54th cap, and Nam Ka-man, earning her 48th, have seen it all before.
They are all likely to be playing in front of the largest crowd too, with the equivalent of more than 130,000 tickets, some 20,000 more than last year, already sold for the three days of action, and officials said they expect to set at least one daily attendance record.
There will be a rare racing first as well, with an expanded Tradition HKFC 10s leading to Happy Valley staging a meeting on Wednesday, an event Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, the Jockey Club CEO, said he took “special pride in” after working for 12 years to make it happen.
With entertainment as much a part of the week as both sports, Australian pop icon Jason Donovan will be part of the rugby-themed midweek races and both Engelbrecht-Bresges and Chris Brooke, the Hong Kong China Rugby chairman, pointed to the expected boost to tourism and the city’s economy.