HONG KONG LACROSSE OPEN: WOMEN’S TEAM BEGIN DEFENCE WELL, WHILE U20 WOMEN AND MEN’S TEAMS ALSO MAKE ENCOURAGING STARTS

Hong Kong's senior women were untroubled by Japan's J Connection and WHPP, the city's development programme team
The women's U20s also won their matches, as did the senior men, though their U20 counterparts found things tough

Hong Kong's women's team and their under-20 compatriots both had winning starts but the learning curve for the city's development side proved to be a steep one at the Hong Kong Lacrosse Open on Friday.

Defending their title, the hosts' senior team were never troubled as four goals from captain Sally Tang Yi-ting helped them breeze past the visiting J Connection from Japan 13-6 at the University of Hong Kong's Stanley Ho Sports Centre.

"We have started to prepare for the World Championship qualifiers, which begins in January 2025," Gemini Fan Tak-kwan, head coach for the city's women's team, said.

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"So, here at the Hong Kong Open, we will be looking to see where we are right now, so as to prepare for our training in the second half of the year.

"The team in this tournament is the strongest we have currently and we are playing to defend our title, but Japanese team SELL has nine national team members on their team so the competition is there."

The women backed up by thrashing the development side, WHPP (women's high performance programme), 26-0.

"It's only the first major tournament for WHPP this season so it will be good to see them play as a team, while the coaches will look at if there are potential players we can pick for the senior team towards the qualifiers," Fan added.

With Hong Kong hosting the Women's U20 Championships in August, the city's under-20 side was "on a mission" at this week's event, and the teens started their tournament with a convincing 17-2 win over China.

"It's the final tryout for selection towards the world championships this summer," Fan said. "So, we will be looking at trying out different player combinations on the field and see how they gel together.

"We will also try out different strategies to see what the best fit for the team is and see what else we need to work on."

The city under-20 side went on to thrash Crossefire and Valley Lacrosse Club, a combined team made up of players from Singapore and Hong Kong, 13-2.

In the men's tournament, tournament favourite Fogo Japan signalled their intention to claim their third straight crown at the event, after dispatching China and Valley Lacrosse Club with ease.

Fogo Japan had edged out the hosts 7-6 in a close contest in the men's final back in 2019, before scoring a golden goal to win 6-5 last April.

The hosts, who are led in the tournament by assistant coach Jordan Wong, also recorded two wins in as many games after overcoming local outfit Valley Lacrosse Club 9-2 and sealing a 12-0 win over Singapore's Crossefire.

The Hong Kong U20 men's side lost their two games by the same score, 3-8, against Crossefire and China Lacrosse.

The team's head coach, Bob Snider, has skipped the three-day tournament in Hong Kong to focus on the World Lacrosse Box Championships, which runs in New York from September 20 to 29.

Box lacrosse is an indoor version of the sport played mostly in North America. While a regular lacrosse game features teams of 10 players each, box lacrosse has teams of five outfielders and a goalkeeper each.

Hong Kong are placed in group B alongside Belgium, Israel and Mexico in the 28-team tournament.