China Women Join World 7s Elite
China warned the rest of the world they are now a force to be reckoned with after their stunning unbeaten run at the HSBC Women’s Sevens World Series qualifiers in Hong Kong.
China booked their place with the elite after thumping current Series outfit South Africa 31-14 before more than 34,000 fans at Hong Kong Stadium.
The team that trained and played in local tournaments in Fiji won all six of their previous matches in the tournament. They handed defeats to Kazakhstan, Hong Kong, Brazil, Papua New Guinea and Belgium. “We never imagined it would be this easy, we were prepared to face hardships,” Wang Wanyu, 21 told South China Morning Post. “We were aiming for the trophy so we are thrilled. “Beating South Africa – rugby heavyweights – and our old foes Kazakhstan really bolsters the team’s confidence,” said winger Chen Keyi, who scored three tries in the final.
Chen, from Sichuan province, made the switch from track and field to rugby at age 14 because a rugby coach thought she would excel in the sport.
She is thankful for the sport’s recent spike in attention and looks forward to riding the rugby wave.
“There have been a lot of improvements, from the coach to players and facilities,” Chen said, adding that the team had recently hired a coach from New Zealand. Born in the Jiangsu countryside, Wang was first introduced to the sport when a rugby team recruited her in middle school.
Wang’s parents initially opposed the “brutal” sport, fearing she would get injured or fall behind in her studies.
“My mum would cry when she saw me playing,” Wang said. “For a long time, I didn’t dare to show my parents the games I played in.”
But after seeing their daughter jump from city level to provincial and eventually to the national first team, they have learned to support her.
Rugby still remains a relatively unknown sport in China. It has gained momentum over the past few years, driven by fresh policies and investment from government and private businesses.
Local governments have set up at least 10 provincial teams – and many more citylevel teams – since 2009, the same year the International Olympic Committee decided to introduce it to the Summer Olympics. In 2016, e-commerce giant Alibaba announced it would pump US$100 million into the sport over the next decade. Alibaba (owner of the South China Morning Post) also co-organised the qualifying matches for last year’s China National Games, a major national sports event held once every four years. The Games started to include rugby in 2013.