The men’s and women’s sevens teams of Hong Kong, China opened their bid for Asian Games glory today.

In the women’s competition, Hong Kong had an up and down day, dispatching Singapore (26-5), before losing 32-7 to the region’s top team, China.

Hong Kong started well against Singapore jumping out to a 7-0 lead in the first minute after a try from Ivy Kwong Sau-yan. Natasha Olson Thorne book-ended the half with a try to push Hong Kong’s lead to 14-0 at the break after successful conversions from Aggie Poon Pak-yan.

Hong Kong’s speedsters took over in the second half as Poon opened the scoring shortly after kick-off, with fellow wing Chong Ka-yan adding her first two minutes later.  Chong’s conversion added to the comfortable margin of 26-0 before Singapore scored a consolation try in injury time to put five points on the board.

Reigning Asian Games gold medallists, China, who qualified for next season’s World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series earlier this year, looked in devastating form once again after a convincing 32-7 win over Hong Kong, fourth placed finishers in 2014.

China jumped out to a 15-0 lead after a three-try first half and raced in for three more after the break, with Poon the only scorer for Hong Kong, adding her own conversion.

Coach Kevin West commented on the mixed results after day one saying, “We felt that we could have ticked over the scoreboard a bit more today. Against China, we had good defensive shape for long periods, but we struggled to get a hold of the ball and to hold on to it long enough when we did have it.

“All the squad have now had a run out and we are well aware that this is a three-day tournament and that we need to keep building momentum. One win, one loss today and there is all still to play for,” said West.

The women will play their final pool match against South Korea tomorrow morning at 11.52am Hong Kong time.

“We need to focus on Korea first up, but we’re also aware of what’s happening in the other group. Those teams will pose a real challenge in tomorrow’s second match when we cross over. The girls are excited and focused on continuing to build our game and effectiveness,” he said.

The men’s seven, 2014 Asian Games silver medallists, opened their account with wins over Pakistan, 64-5 and China 42-17 today.

Salom Yiu Kam-shing and Lee Jones paced an offensive explosion in the first half against Asian sevens greenhorns Pakistan, with Yiu picking up an opening bracket hat trick and Jones adding a brace. Two conversions from Ben Rimene and a third from Jamie Hood brought the halftime score to 31-0.

Pakistan opened the second with a try from Faisal Aslam, but Hong Kong closed out strong with Max Denmark replying with a brace of tries, followed by Max Woodward, Cado Lee Ka-to and Liam Herbert – to bring Hong Kong’s total to ten tries in the 64-5 rout.

The level of difficulty increased in Hong Kong’s next outing but the squad was equal to the task, clinically dispatching China, 42-17.

Captain Ben Rimene led from the front, scoring a first-half brace, with Yiu claiming his fourth try. Recent U20s sevens graduate Alessandro Nardoni also got his name on the scoresheet with a try in the first half, while China were only able to muster an unconverted try in response.

Nardoni added a second score in the second half with Max Denmark scoring shortly after to push Hong Kong’s lead to 42-5. China fought to the end, managing two late tries before falling 42-17.

Coach Paul John was satisfied with his team’s effort, calling it a “very pleasing first day.”

“We had a big win in the morning and played well against China, which was potentially a difficult game. We let them have a few tries late, which is a bit frustrating and something we have to look at, but those first seven, nine minutes were really solid for us.

Hong Kong will play its final pool match against Thailand tomorrow at 2.12pm (Hong Kong time).

“We have to finish the group out well tomorrow. We need a win over Thailand to keep pushing to get the best possible draw. Japan and Sri Lanka have both scored a lot of points today so we need to perform again tomorrow. Fortunately, we’ve been able to use everyone off the bench today, so now all of the guys are into the tournament,” John said.