The Hong Kong Rugby Football Union today announced the official 12-man squad to represent Hong Kong at the Cathay Pacific/Credit Suisse Hong Kong Sevens 2007 and the inaugural Adelaide Sevens. The Cathay Pacific/Credit Suisse Hong Kong Sevens 2007 will take place at the Hong Kong Stadium from Friday 30 March to Sunday 1 April, 2007; the Adelaide Sevens will be held the following weekend (April 7 - 8, 2007).
The squad confirms the increasingly home grown nature of the Hong Kong Rugby Football Union's national representative teams, with 7 of the 12-man squad having represented Hong Kong at the recent Asian Games sevens competition in Doha.
HKRFU Head of Performance Ivan Torpey commented on the selection saying, "Naming the final 12 members of the squad has been the most challenging experience of all of the Sevens selections that I've been involved with since arriving in 2004."
The squad at this year's Hong Kong Sevens will be ably led by tournament veterans Nigel D'Acre, marking his debut as the squad captain for the Hong Kong Sevens, and Hong Kong's first ever Chinese vice captain for the Sevens, Ricky Ming Yin Cheuk. The squad includes two players making their Hong Kong Sevens debut including local league standout Colin Bisley and 19-year old dynamo Keith Robertson.
This year's Hong Kong team is grouped in Pool E alongside defending champions England, Argentina and Korea. After a close run defeat to Korea in the opening match of the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, the Hong Kong squad will be targeting their pool rivals, with strong support from the local Hong Kong crowd.
The expanded training squad visited Korea in late February for a special competitive training camp which included four matches. Hong Kong will have the benefit of blending its young core of Asian Games squad with the experienced veterans who are eligible to compete at the Hong Kong Sevens under IRB eligibility rules.
A special meet the Hong Kong Team press conference will be held at the Hong Kong Stadium on the coming Saturday, March 24, from 11.30am - 1.00pm. All media and photographers are welcome.
Hong Kong Sevens squad for the Hong Kong & Adelaide Sevens
Surname |
First Name |
Club |
BISLEY |
Colin |
HKCC |
CHAMBERS |
Andrew |
HKFC |
CHEUK* (vice captain) |
Ricky |
HKFC |
D'ACRE (captain) |
Nigel |
HKFC |
GREGORY |
Justin |
DeA |
MARIN |
Kris |
Kowloon |
PANNELL* |
Kenzo |
Canterbury University (NZ) |
ROBERTSON* |
Keith |
Nottingham University (UK) |
TSANG* |
Hing Hung |
DeA |
VARTY* |
Rowan |
Nottingham University (UK) |
WONG* |
Jeff |
Queens University (UK) |
WRIGHT* |
Mark |
Loughborough University (UK) |
| * Asian Games 2006 squad member |
For more information on the Cathay Pacific/Credit Suisse Hong Kong Sevens 2007 please visit the HKRFU's official Sevens website at http://www.hksevens.com.
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Released on behalf of the Hong Kong Rugby Football Union by Octagon Greater China Limited.
For further enquiries, please contact Sean Moore or Andy Yeung on tel: 852 2534 5039 / 5014 respectively; by fax to: 852 2598 0280 or by email: sean.moore@octagon.com or andy.yeung@octagon.com.
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