The Hong Kong Sevens: An exciting sporting event and a hopeful glimpse into the reopening of Hong Kong.

Image of Max Denmark of the Hong Kong team scoring a touchdown against Team Samoa on Day 2. (Image courtesy of South China Morning Post, Taken By K. Y. Cheng)

Edited by Lianne Lee

The Hong Kong Sevens is an annual international rugby event that is a part of the World Rugby Sevens Series and is considered to be one of the most important sporting events hosted in Hong Kong. 

The event happened over the weekend in Hong Kong Stadium, bringing in tourists from all over the globe, resulting in a completely packed stadium with over 20,000 enthusiastic fans cheering for their favourite rugby teams. 

However, the hosting city Hong Kong team could have done better in their first game, going 0-43 against Australia and losing against New Zealand 38-14 during their second match on Saturday. 

Despite this, the energy level and the spirit of the crowd did not falter, and the Hong Kong team was cheered all the way through, and celebration erupted when Max Denmark of the Hong Kong team sprinted across the goal line. (Unfortunately, the cheering soon turned into booing after the referee pulled the point for infringement.)

The crowd was also filled with people dressed in a variety of costumes, some representing their home country and some being more fun, such as a man in a T-rex costume. 

The Hong Kong Sevens also marks Hong Kong’s first major sporting event since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, with an attendee commenting on how it was “surreal” to be surrounded by a crowd without face masks while eating and drinking (a lot of drinking) in a stadium. 

After such a long period of tight covid restrictions, the Hong Kong Sevens is a hopeful sign of a fuller reopening of the city, with hopefully more international sporting events and mayhem along with it.