Hong Kong Sevens great says touch rugby’s ‘huge selling point’ could mean Olympic inclusion
Sunday’s Hong Kong International Touch Championships begins week-long rugby carnival in city, culminating in Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens
Touch rugby’s mixed version was a “huge selling point” and could allow it to gatecrash the Olympic Games, according to former Hong Kong Sevens superstar Ricky Cheuk Ming-yin.
Cheuk, who represented the city at last year’s Touch World Cup, was elected as a director of Hong Kong, China Rugby in November.
He was among a healthy crowd watching Sunday’s 2025 Hong Kong International Touch Championships at Happy Valley Recreation Ground, as the ball started rolling for a week-long rugby carnival in the city that will climax with Kai Tak Stadium’s first Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens.
Cheuk said he was “exploring how to integrate touch and sevens”, with a view to the non-contact version providing local players for the Hong Kong sevens teams.
A veteran of the 2001 and 2005 Rugby Sevens World Cups, he also underlined his wish to make the touch championships better each year. It currently happens over one 12-hour day, but Cheuk was hoping for a two-day competition as soon as next year.
That would mirror the midweek Tradition HKFC10s, which provide the competitive curtain raiser for the flagship sevens. Sunday’s tournament, which featured 26 sides across three competitions, saw local teams joined by opponents from mainland China, Singapore, Japan and Taiwan.