The Youth Olympic Asia Qualifier took place in Dubai on the 29th and 30th of November. The seven-a-side tournament featured 12 Asian teams, all vying for one qualifying spot for the Youth Olympics to be held in Buenos Aires in October 2018. Hong Kong sent a strong U17 girls team who put in a solid performance finishing 6th overall. With all girls holding Hong Kong passports, the tournament provided a platform for players to showcase their potential to be future members of the Hong Kong Women’s 7s team.

Day one of the tournament started well with two convincing wins over Philippines (54-0) and Sri Lanka (35-5) to see them top their pool. However, a strong India team crushed Hong Kong’s Olympic dream on day 2 with a 7-24 victory. Despite the heartbreak, Hong Kong came back fighting and proved their worth with a 33-0 defeat over Iran but eventually fell to Thailand in the Plate Finals 27-0.

Whilst not the outcome they had hoped for, Coach Royce Chan was still extremely impressed with the team’s development and fighting spirit. “I still think we should be able to compete in the top four, but the girls had their first taste of losing and still came back strong which was really good to see. Mentally they have grown up a lot.”

“I was particularly impressed with Beatrice Bourron and Michelle Law who both had outstanding performances. Michelle played really well and has significantly improved over the last few months. The extra effort she puts in off the pitch helped her a lot on the field,” said Chan.

No doubt, the players’ talent and energy alerted the interest of Hong Kong Head of Women’s Rugby Jo Hull, who was also at the tournament to oversee the girls’ potential.

Most of the Hong Kong team are products of HKRU’s Star Programme, which aims to encourage more local players to take up rugby and to help the sport grow in Hong Kong and across Asia.

With all girls holding Hong Kong passports and thus, eligible for the National Sevens Team, Coach Chan was adamant that she would see her players in Hong Kong jerseys in the near future, “I’m looking forward to seeingthem represent Hong Kong in the next Asian games in 4 years,” she said.