Hong Kong teams beaten at Lacrosse Open but Olympics gives youngsters a pathway
Double final defeat for home sides, with men unable to repeat last year’s triumph after women and under-20s see signs of progress
The hosts suffered double final defeat at the Hong Kong Lacrosse Open on Sunday, with both the men’s and women’s sides beaten in their showpiece events.
First, the women faced a repeat of last year’s final against Second Era Leaders of Lacrosse (SELL), but could not reverse their defeat of 12 months ago as they went down 16-5. Then the men were unable to retain their title as they lost 10-7 to Shenzhen Lacrosse Development Ltd (SLDL).
Hong Kong players and coaches were able to find positives, however, with women’s forward Lam Wing-yi saying her side “executed our plans well” before their youth was trumped by SELL’s experience.
“I can’t say I’m really disappointed,” said Lam, who scored three times in the defeat. “We came into this game with personal goals we had set ourselves regarding offensive plays – and the goals all came from good teamwork.”
For the men, it was a disappointing end to an otherwise impressive tournament after they beat favourites Fogo 10-5 in the semi-finals. In a topsy-turvy final, played in front of a fervent crowd with both sides receiving raucous support, they were 3-1 ahead at the end of the first quarter and 4-3 behind following the second.
The home side levelled at 7-7 early in the fourth before a collapse saw SLDL score three more.