Back with a bang!

The first sell-out since Covid in the final year at the Hong Kong Stadium... we bore witness to a madcap Hong Kong Sevens

- ALAN DYMOCK

WE KNOW making it to the Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens is part of many rugby bucket lists, but sometimes the joy of it can come as a total surprise. Ask local star Chong Ka-yan.

“I was studying at university and had a part-time job here,” says the Hong Kong China team’s playmaker. She was selling burgers at a concession stand in the Hong Kong Stadium in 2013 when she witnessed the sport of rugby for the very first time. “It was unforgettable. The Fiji team were losing by three tries but they came back. The atmosphere and the intensity of the sport made me think, ‘Oh, I want to try that!’”

By 2015, she was representing the national team at sevens. A rapid rise. But then we know that the vibrations around this world-renowned event can inspire, bewilder and delight.

The 2024 edition was significant for several reasons. The ‘jewel in the crown’ of the world SVNS Series for both men and women, this was not only the big one for all the teams involved but it was the last one in the iconic Hong Kong Stadium ahead of a move to the brand-new Kai Tak venue, which is expected to open by the end of the year or start of next. And not only was this the 30th year at the current home, it was the first sell-out the sevens has managed since the near-crippling hiatus of Covid times in the region. Under the stewardship of outgoing CEO Robbie McRobbie, the union – and the sevens – has been backed away from the brink.

THE WORLD’S PARTY