Hong Kong's men's and women's rugby sevens teams stepped up their preparations for next month's Asian Games with an open training session at the Hong Kong Sports Institute on Friday (Aug. 21), as both squads set their sights on returning to the podium in Aichi-Nagoya.
The men's team will head to Japan aiming to defend the Asian Games title they won in 2018 and 2023 and secure a third consecutive gold medal. The women's team, meanwhile, will look to build on the historic bronze medal they claimed at the previous Asian Games.
The 20th Asian Games will be held in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, from Sept. 19 to Oct. 4, with 43 sports on the programme.
Before heading to Japan, the teams will travel to Suzhou in the Chinese mainland next week for the opening leg of the 2026 Asia Rugby Emirates Sevens Series. The tournament will provide an important competitive test ahead of the Asian Games.
HK's women's side have been drawn alongside Thailand, Sri Lanka and Malaysia, while the men's team will face Thailand, Malaysia and Uzbekistan in the group stage.
Several players who had been temporarily assigned to the Hong Kong Rugby Union's Rugby World Cup 2027 squad have now returned to the sevens programme to focus fully on Asian Games preparations. They include Harry Sayers, Callum McCullough, Jack Combes and Matteo Avitabile.
Men's head coach Jevon Groves said the Asian Games squad would be announced after the opening Asia Rugby Emirates Sevens Series tournament in Suzhou.
"We need to be successful at the Asian Games," Groves said, describing the tournament as crucial to the future of HK's high-performance rugby programme.
"Our vision is to be consistent, be sustainable and, in order to do that, we need to be successful at the Asian Games."
The importance of the Games was also highlighted by coach Andrew Vilk, who said the team had been preparing since mid-May and had made full use of HK's summer conditions.
"The goal is to go there and medal," Vilk said, adding that the team had benefited from strong support from the Hong Kong Sports Institute and valuable tournament experience during the preparation period.
Vilk also pointed to the significance of representing Hong Kong, China at the Asian Games, noting that the men's and women's teams had both reached the podium at the previous Games.
The women's squad believes a combination of experienced players and emerging talent will be one of its key strengths.
"We've got a load of girls that have really good experience and a lot of new girls bringing the energy and the hype to the team," said player Chloe Chan.
For player Chong Ka-yan, the immediate priority is to establish momentum in Suzhou before turning fully to the Asian Games.
"We're ready," she said, adding that the team would look to perform at its best and build confidence by winning as many matches as possible at the opening Asia Rugby Sevens Series leg.
On the men's side, James Christie, who was part of HK's gold-medal winning team at the previous Asian Games, said the squad remained focused on completing a three-peat.
"We've always talked about going for that three-peat—three gold medals in a row," Christie said.
The forward recalled HK's memorable semi-final victory over Japan at the previous Games and said the team would once again be targeting gold.
Max Denmark also made clear that winning remained the team's ultimate objective.
"We proved it in the last two Asian Games that we are the best in Asia, and we want to continue to hold that title," he said.
Denmark said the squad had developed a strong team culture, with younger players aged around 18 and 19 training alongside more experienced teammates in their late 20s and 30s.
"The older guys are looking after the younger guys and teaching them the skills that come with playing for 10-plus years," he said, describing the group as a close-knit unit.
With the Suzhou tournament just days away, HK's sevens teams now enter one of the most important stages of their Asian Games build-up, with the men's side chasing another gold medal and the women's team aiming to make another mark on the continental stage.
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