Chance to join game’s elite beckons for Hong Kong’s Sevens sides

After a lengthy process including the Borneo Sevens and Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens in March and the Singapore tournament last week, 21 players had an opportunity to press their cases for the squad.

“Those three tournaments gave us a chance to see everyone play and to select the players we think best suits this tournament,” Groves said.

“There were some tough decisions given that everyone has put their hands up over the past three tournaments, but this squad has the balance we need for what we expect will be a high attrition competition, with two three-day tournaments on back-to-back weekends,” added Groves.

While the men are competing in the Challenger Series for the third time, the women will make their debuts, the latest in a season of them, and head coach Paul John has selected a 16-strong squad brimming with experience.

Linchpins Natasha Olson-Thorne and Melody Li Nim-yan will once again co-captain the side, while John has retained 10 of the 12 players who competed at the Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens.

“This is the first time for the women to participate in the Challenger Series and we are very excited to be taking part,” John said.

“It is a great opportunity for us to carry on from the Hong Kong tournament. We should be proud of how we played in Hong Kong. We won our kick offs and our defence was good. Now the challenge is for us to make that our baseline performance, to keep that level of progress and to keep improving.”

The Challenger Series will take place on the weekends of April 21-23 and 28-30 in the Markotter Stadium.

Men’s squad: Max Woodward (capt), Seb Brien, James Christie, Michael Coverdale, Max Denmark, Liam Herbert, Callum McCullough, Alex McQueen, Pierce MacKinlay-West, Mak Kwai-chung, Alessandro Nardoni, Harry Sayers, Hugo Stiles, Russell Webb, Salom Yiu Kam-shing.

Women’s squad: Natasha Olson-Thorne (co-capt), Melody Li Nim-yan (co-capt), Maggie Au Yeung Sin-Yi, Micayla Baltazar, Chloe Baltazar, Chloe Chan, Stephanie Chan Chor-ki, Chong Ka-yan, Shanna Forrest, Jessica Ho Wai-on, Nam Ka-man, Gabriella Rivers, Georgia Rivers, So Yee-kei, Agnes Tse Wing-kiu, Rosanna Wright.