- Hong Kong now face China for a ticket to Tokyo
- Iain Monaghan's team secure at least a place at last-ditch repechage next year
Hong Kong women's rugby sevens side are now one upset from a berth at the 2020 Summer Olympics after upsetting favourites Kazakhstan 19-7 in the qualifier semi-finals.
Hong Kong will now play China, who beat Thailand in the other semi-final and are heavy favourites to proceed, at 4.30pm in the final of the Asia Rugby Olympic Sevens Qualifier for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
Hong Kong's win, however, means it is not necessarily the end of their Olympic qualifying campaign: with at least a second place finish in Guangzhou, they have now qualified for a last-ditch repechage scheduled to take place sometime early next year, for a final shot at the Olympics, should they lose to China in today's final, of course.
Florence Symonds, 17, who got her first cap at the Asia Rugby Sevens Series earlier this year, said this whole weekend had been an amazing experience for her and the team. She also said they are more than eager for another shot at China.
"We had a rough first game against them so I think that made us even more hungry. We just need to keep our composure and come together as a team."
Captain Melody Li Nim-yan said the win over Kazakhstan came down to two things.
"We had a talk before the game and there was two things we wanted to do and that was our defence and discipline."
Hong Kong led at halftime 12-0 and then Kazakhstan captain Balzhan Koishybayeva got a red card in the second half for a high tackle.
Held at the Guangzhou University Town Sports Stadium, Hong Kong ended up second in their group behind China, who they lost handily to on Saturday. Iain Monaghan said none of that matters now heading into the final.
"We've done our homework on China and now it is just about being accurate and executing for a full game here."
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