China’s women claim World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series title, as Hong Kong teams struggle through tough Dubai leg
- China secure gold with 19-5 triumph over Kenya, Argentina take bronze with 36-10 win against Uganda
- Hong Kong’s men end weekend on high note with 38-0 victory over Georgia to finish seventh, women take 10th place
China’s women got their sevens season off to a flyer on Sunday, winning the first leg of this year’s Challenger Series, while Hong Kong’s men and women struggled in Dubai.
The dominant force over the three days of the women’s competition, China secured gold with a 19-5 win over Kenya in the final, gaining a full measure of revenge for their 17-12 loss to the same opposition in Friday’s pool match.
China had earlier cruised into the final thanks to a 45-5 thrashing of Uganda in the last four, while Kenya saw off Argentina 17-0 in the second semi-final.
The South Americans were impressive throughout the weekend and claimed the bronze thanks to a 36-10 win over Uganda.
“We are happy and so proud of our girls and the way we played to our standards,” China’s Chen Keyi said. “Kenya are a very physical team so I’m proud of our tackling and how hard we worked for each other. We hope we can keep learning, keep playing to our way and keep winning in the next tournaments.”
Kenya’s men have been a mainstay among the sevens elite and are aiming to return to the top tier at the first opportunity after their relegation to the Challenger Series last year.
They were made to work for the gold medal in a hard fought final, eventually seeing off Chile 12-5.
Hong Kong’s men, meanwhile, salvaged something from their tournament, beating Georgia for the second time in three days to finish seventh.
Max Denmark and Fong Kit-fung both scored a brace of tries in a 38-0 thrashing that did little to erase the disappointment of a quarter-final defeat at the hands of Germany on Saturday.
“We showed glimpses of what we can do in that game,” Jevon Groves, the men’s head coach, said. “We were competitive at the kick-off, our defence was good and we were clinical in our attack. It was a better all-around performance.
“We need to couple that work rate with better execution, which was lacking – probably down to a lack of preparation coming in, but we know we need to be better for a competition of this standard.”
In the women’s ninth place play-off, Hong Kong were beaten 31-0 by a Naomi Kelly inspired Papua New Guinea. Hong Kong struggled to get any possession in the match, while Kelly proved the star of the show, scoring four great solo tries.
After the opener in Dubai, the Challenger Series heads to Estadio Charrúa in Montevideo, Uruguay from March 8 to 10.
The men and women then have standalone events at Henryk Reyman’s Municipal Stadium in Krakow, Poland and Dantestadion in Munich, Germany respectively on May 18 and 19, before the grand final in Madrid.
