Hong Kong strike gold at the Asian Games

Hong Kong created yet more history at the 2018 Asian Games with a 14-0 win over Japan in the gold medal final in Jakarta.

It was Hong Kong’s first-ever gold in the competition having finished as runners-up in 2010 and 2014, ending Japan’s run of three successive gold medals at the same time.

Yiu Salom got Hong Kong off to a flying start and they never looked back with Alessandro Nardoni scoring on the stroke of half-time to double their lead before a scoreless second half.

Elsewhere Korea confirmed a third successive bronze, meaning the three medallists were the same as at the last Asian Games in 2014, beating Sri Lanka 36-14 in the bronze medal match.

Earlier Sri Lanka nearly made it into their first-ever Asian Games gold medal match, leading Japan 5-0 and 10-5 in their semi-final before Katsayuki Sakai scored on the stroke of the half-time and a scoreless second half.

In the second semi-final Cado Lee scored twice and Ben Rimene once as Hong Kong beat Korea despite Jeongmin Jang showing his pace once more at the Games with a sensational try to set up a repeat of the 2014 final.

Malaysia bounced back from their quarter-final defeat to Japan to finish fifth, beating Thailand 33-12 and China 12-7 with tries from Amalul Nasarrudin and Mohamad Ismail.

Asia Rugby President Aga Hussain was impressed with what he saw at the 18th Asian Games and is aware of the impact it will have on rugby in the region.

“The Asian Games in Indonesia was another demonstration of the growth of rugby in our region,” said Hussain.

“The skill of all the 20 participating teams was excellent and the competition provided excitement and drama. Congratulations to all of our medalists, having two first-ever gold medal winners shows the depth of competition in Asia.

“Being involved in the 18th Asian Games is another step on our ladder of increasing participation of rugby in Asia with both the men’s and women’s competitions drawing excellent crowds.

“It was a pleasure to have the IOC President Thomas Bach in attendance too, especially with the next Olympics taking place in Asia in Tokyo in 2020.”

Overall standings

Hong Kong

Japan

Korea

Sri Lanka

Malaysia

China

Chinese Taipei

Thailand

Afghanistan

Pakistan

Indonesia

UAE

Results
Gold
Japan 0-14 Hong Kong

Bronze
Sri Lanka 14-36 Korea

Semi-finals
Japan 12-10 Sri Lanka
Korea 7-19 Hong Kong

5th place final
China 7-12 Malaysia

7th place play-off
Chinese Taipei 24-19 Thailand

5th-8th semi-finals
Chinese Taipei 7-38 China
Malaysia 33-12 Thailand

9th-12th round-robin
Afghanistan 15-7 Pakistan
Indonesia 49-5 UAE
Pakistan 74-0 UAE
Afghanistan 29-12 Indonesia

Photos : Ivan Shum / Clicks Images