By Julian Linden, OCA Media
Nagoya, Japan, October 1, 2026: Hong Kong, China sent an ominous warning to its rivals about its intention to retain the men’s rugby 7s title at the Asian Games.
The gold medallist at each of the last two Asian Games, Hong Kong, China made a blistering start to its bid for a record-equalling third successive crown after thumping Uzbekistan 45-0 then Malaysia 49-0 in its opening two games in Pool A.
“The most important thing is the zero on the other side,” Hong Kong, China captain Christie James said. “We always talk about how defence wins tournaments, and that’s obviously shown today.
“We’re looking for three golds in a row. Of course that’s important, but I think representing Hong Kong, our home, is huge. Growing up there, I’ve always wanted to play in the Asian Games and now we get a chance to do it and hopefully come back with our gold medal.”
Despite piling on 15 unanswered tries in the two landslide wins, Hong Kong, China coach Jevon Groves warned there was no room for complacency and his team needed to get even better.
“It was a good start in terms of the scoreboard but I still think there's a few areas of our game that we can improve and learn from. Being hypercritical, there was some tries that we left out there, so we want to try and get better in those areas because, as the tournament unfolds and the opposition gets stronger, those chances get less and less.”
China also won its two opening matches in Pool A, defeating Malaysia 33-21 and Uzbekistan 50-0, while Japan won twice in Pool B and Sri Lanka twice in Pool C.
Japan crossed the chalk six times in a 38-0 romp over Kazakhstan before winning a much tighter match against Korea 24-14 at Nagoya City Mizuho Park Rugby Field.
“There were periods where we spent a lot of time defending. It’s good that we were able to win,” Japan wing Yoshiyuki Koga said.
“We lost to them on the physical side and were playing reactively because of penalties, but winning is what matters in this tournament.
“This is our second-most important tournament after the Olympics. We want to win the title and that’s what we’ve come to do.”
Sri Lanka ended the first of the three-day competition leading Pool C after overcoming Philippines 22-14 then Singapore 33-17.
“We made a lot of mistakes and the game was tough, but eventually the boys did really well in the end,” Sri Lanka back Anuradha Rankothgedara said.
