Photo credit: University Rugby Football Club
It’s official: the Singapore Sevens is better than Hong Kong, at least according to the World Rugby Series' evaluation.
The Singapore Sevens was ranked the second-best tournament in 2018 behind Vancouver in Canada, while Hong Kong was placed a measly fifth out of the ten venues - despite its world-renowned reputation.
World Rugby evaluates each venue based on nine categories; accommodation and general support services are both considered important factors.
The Hong Kong Stadium, despite being famous for its boisterous atmosphere, falls short when it comes to support services because of the lack of a training stadium.
Although the Singapore Sevens caters to a family friendly audience, it excels in both training facilities and travel arrangements, ultimately trumping Hong Kong,
For Singapore Rugby Union President Terence Khoo, this is an extremely satisfying result.
"For us to go one-up on Hong Kong is a great achievement, and we were very close to becoming No 1," said Khoo.
“There were many areas of improvement as we dug deep and devoted manpower and resources into running the event to ensure the player and team experience were better than before.”
Hong Kong will hope to reclaim its rightful place as the premier Sevens venue, with construction of the spanking new Kai Tak Sports Park in 2023.