Hong Kong Lacrosse Open: home team eye success after beating defending champions Fogo Japan
- Home men’s team see off Fogo Japan to raise hopes of making it third time lucky should they meet them in Sunday’s final
- ‘The key will be our confidence, and knowing we’ve beaten them once,’ coach Jordan Wong says
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The home men’s team beat the defending champions at the Hong Kong Lacrosse Open to give themselves a chance of dethroning them when the event concludes on Sunday.
The hosts defeated arch-rivals Fogo Japan 7-2 at the University of Hong Kong’s Stanley Ho Sports Centre on Saturday in a much-anticipated group encounter, a rematch of the last two men’s finals. It meant they maintained a perfect record in their three matches.
“Today we had a much stronger performance than our opponents,” assistant coach Jordan Wong said. “We emphasised that the key to winning would be our energy and hustle.”
Wong added that his team played at a tempo the visitors could not match.
“We committed to the game plan, executed it for the full 60 minutes and came away with the result we wanted,” he said.
“Our offence took care of possession, controlled the pace of play and made them pay when we got our opportunities to score.
“Our riding and defence have been athletic, applying a lot of pressure to get the ball back and making big stops when needed.”
“It’s a mixed team of experience and young blood,” said Wong, who is coaching in place of head coach Bob Snider.
“We have a lot of turnover from last season and are developing these young players who will be the future representatives for the Hong Kong team.
“I have been impressed so far by the defensive plays of Victor Sha Ho-tin and the goalscoring from Samuel Chow Tsz-hong.”
A third straight final with Fogo Japan is on the cards but Wong is confident history will not repeat.
“We have been working on different strategies against our other opponents,” he said. “We hope that will help us to make quicker adjustments when needed.
“The key will be our confidence, and knowing we’ve beaten them once. We’re well prepared and the whole team is on the same page with the strategy.”
