Chinese fans warm to rugby sevens, helped by free tickets

Published>Wed, Nov 24 10 03:06 AM

China's run to the medals stages of the Asian Games rugby sevens attracted warm support from throngs of debutant spectators on Tuesday.

Known as "olive ball" locally, rugby remains a puzzle to most Chinese people raised on a sporting diet of table tennis, badminton and soccer.

A government programme to pack stadiums with free-ticket holders ensured big crowds at the University Stadium, where China's men lost their bronze-medal match 21-14 to South Korea before their women lost 17-14 to Kazakhstan for the title.

Japan edged Hong Kong 28-21 to defend their men's title.

The International Rugby Board (IRB) said the success of rugby sevens at the Games would give the sport a boost in the region.

"You could say we're surfing a little bit off the Asian Games," Jarrad Gallagher, the IRB's Asian development manager, told Reuters at the venue.

The acceptance of sevens into the Olympic programme from 2016 in Rio de Janeiro has further boosted the local game.

The sport is now guaranteed funding by authorities keen for success on the world stage.

"The best thing is that we've got rugby into the All-China Games," Gallagher said. "It's like China's Olympics. That means provinces now will begin to have a team so that opens doors now for more new facilities run for teams, both men's and women's."

The National Games, a quadrennial multi-sport event that dates back to China's Republican era, features the country's provinces competing against each other, with medals often linked to government funding.

The next edition in 2013 could involve 12 or 13 provinces, Gallagher said, giving the IRB an opportunity to promote the game in schools and universities.

"It also allows us to have some credibility about us, (so) that we're not under the covers trying to sneak around," he said.

The sport has largely been run on a shoestring budget by an agricultural university in Beijing for the last 20 years. Many of China's national players are current or former students and the coach Zheng Hongjun is a professor there.

The players are bulky and skilled but lacked the experience and technical nous to challenge Asia's better teams such as Japan, said Hong Kong centre Anthony Haynes.

"They used to be almost the whipping boys of sevens but they've done really well to develop the game," said the 21-year-old, whose extra-time try sealed a 19-14 win for Hong Kong over China in their semi-final.

"They're absolutely massive... It's a matter of time before they get the right blend."

China still lacks a domestic league in sevens or regular rugby, and cautious local administrators have yet to fully welcome foreign coaches and experts.

"They need to open their arms a bit wider," Gallagher said.

Some fans at the stadium, while intrigued, also had yet to be won over by the foreign game. "It was quite interesting to watch," said Zhao Ran, a 21-year-old university student. "But it looks like there would be a lot of injuries."

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