Korea captured its third consecutive Shanghai Sevens title after edging Hong Kong 22-17 with a try in sudden-death in today’s Cup final.

Kim Gwong Min scored the winning try to complete a hat-trick in the final and earn the honours as the Most Valuable Player of the Shanghai Sevens 2011.

After a shock loss to unheralded Philippines on day one, Korea righted its ship on day two to book its place in the final for the third consecutive year in Shanghai against Hong Kong, the in-form team of the tournament this weekend.

Speaking after the emotional cup final win, Korea captain Yoon Tae-Il said, “Our performance improved after day one and we had a good review after losing to the Philippines. We were able to come back and defeat China in front of their home crowds and reach the final where we had as good a chance as Hong Kong.

“It is fair to say that Hong Kong was the in-form team of the tournament but we looked across from them in the second half and when we were exhausted we could see they were exhausted too. It gave us the lift to come back.”

Continuing its trend of winning the hard way this weekend, Korea conceded a 10-point lead to Hong Kong in the first half of the final through tries to Keith Robertson and Tom McQueen, another player in the running for MVP honours this weekend.

But Korea struck back quickly in the second half through Kim Gwong Min’s first try from the kick-off. Hong Kong replied through Rowan Varty on his tournament debut as sevens captain further widening the lead to 17-5 after Keith Robertson’s conversion. Under relentless pressure from Korea in the second half, Hong Kong conceded a yellow card for interference on the try line. Korea efficiently utilised the man advantage to put Kim over for his second try closing the gap at 17-10.

Korea continued to exert pressure on Hong Kong in the second half, leading to a try to winger Noh Hoon Jae, levelling the scores at 17-all at the end of regulation time.

Korea’s Kim Gwong Min scores the winning try at the Shanghai Sevens(Pic: Elite Step Asia)

Extra Time

Hong Kong exerted early pressure from the kick-off of extra time but in the second minute of the five-minute golden point extra-time, Korea managed to fly-kick ahead from ruck ball and the rapacious Kim Gwong Min was again in the right place at the right time. Kim outpaced the Hong Kong defence to chase down the ball and cross over for his third try of the match giving Korea the title with a 22-17 win.

The win marked the third consecutive victory for Korea in Shanghai. Korea also enters the history books as the first ever tournament champions on the new HSBC Asian Sevens Series launched this year. It was also the first win for Korea in the Yuanshen Stadium in Shanghai, which hosted the event for the first time in 2011.

Heartbreak for Hong Kong

It was heartbreak for Hong Kong after reaching the Shanghai final for the first time in the three-year history of the event. Hong Kong narrowly missed out on its own Cinderella story as they were in position to win the inaugural event of the HSBC Asian Sevens Series in Shanghai just days after announcing that HSBC is the new principle sponsor of the Hong Kong Rugby Football Union National Teams.

Hong Kong can take solace in being the team to beat for much of the tournament despite integrating several new and returning players into the core squad for the opening tournament on the 2011 series.

Hong Kong’s run to the final included a convincing 26-nil win over its traditional nemesis Japan in the Cup semi final. Despite the disappointment of the final, the performance will hold Hong Kong in good stead as they prepare to defend their title at next month’s Borneo Sevens, the second ranking event on the HSBC Asian Sevens Series 2011.

Hong Kong National Coach Dai Rees (pictured above) was philosophical about the result saying, “It is disappointing of course to lose in extra time but I am pleased with the way we were able to gel as a team and to reach the final in the first tournament of the season. We will use this loss as motivation as we prepare for Borneo. The good thing is that the new lads fitted into the squad very well and there is now great depth in our squad and some fierce competition for places in Borneo.”

The next event on the HSBC Asian Sevens Series is the Borneo Sevens (September 24-25) in Kota Kinabalu, East Malaysia, where Hong Kong are the reigning champions.

A triumphant Korea celebrate their Shanghai Sevens 2011 win (Pic: Elite Step Asia)

The Hong Kong Sevens team has made a confident start to their campaign in the inaugural HSBC Asian Sevens Series.

The tournament kicked-off in the Chinese city of Shanghai today and concludes with the knock-out rounds tomorrow, Sunday 28 August.

Competing in Pool D, Hong Kong saw off the challenge from Malaysia (28 – 7) as well as Mongolia (59 – 0).

The season-opener was not without it’s upset, with the Philippines beating favourites and Asian strongmen Korea 19 – 7.

Hong Kong captain Rowan Varty takes on Mongolia at the Shanghai Sevens. (Pic: Elite Step Asia)

The line-up for tomorrow’s knock-out matches is:

UAE  v Sri Lanka
Bowl Semi Final (BSF1)

Chinese Taipei v Mongolia
Bowl Semi Final (BSF2)

Japan v Malaysia
Quarter Final (QF1)

Hong Kong v Thailand
Quarter Final (QF2)

Philippines  v Kazakhstan
Quarter Final (QF3)

China v Korea
Quarter Final (QF4)

In other news from the Shanghai Sevens, The National reports that it’s not all good for the UAE at the season-opener.

The UAE made the worst possible start in their bid to persuade the International Rugby Board they deserve a place at December’s Dubai Rugby Sevens, after they lost both their matches in the pool stage of the Shanghai Sevens yesterday.

The newly formed UAE sevens side have been told they will have to prove they are worthy of playing in the opening tournament of the HSBC World Series in Dubai later this year.

The team was created after the Arabian Gulf was disbanded at the end of last year, but they did not automatically assume the Gulf’s place in their home competition.

Instead, the IRB will monitor how they fare in the HSBC Asian Sevens Series, with this weekend’s opening leg in Shanghai to be followed by tournaments in Borneo and Thailand.

If the game’s ruling body decide the team from the Emirates are not competitive enough, the Dubai Sevens will be the only leg on the nine-tournament World Series not to have a home representative.

Additional picture in this report: China’s Lu Zhuan on the run in the 26-7 win over Kazakhstan on day one of the Shanghai Sevens, the opening event of the HSBC Asian Sevens Series

HSBC and Asian Rugby Football Union (ARFU) on Wednesday announced the continuation of their partnership in support of the HSBC Asian 5 Nations (HSBC A5N), Asia’s premier fifteen aside rugby competition.

HSBC and ARFU also announced the inception of a new rugby property, the HSBC Asian Sevens Series. Both sponsorships will run for the next three years from 2011 – 2013.

Mark McCombe, CEO of HSBC Hong Kong and Giles Morgan, Group Head of Sponsorship for HSBC Holdings plc joined Trevor Gregory, Vice-President of ARFU for Wednesday’s announcement.

Dean Herewini, HSBC Penguin International Coaching Academy coach and the coach of Malaysia 15s was also in attendance. Also present were players from each of the 2011 HSBC A5N Top 5 nations: Ayumu Goromaru of Japan; Timur Mashurov of Kazakhstan; Simon Leung of Hong Kong; Cyrus Homayoum of the new UAE Rugby Association and Sean Wijesinghe of Sri Lanka, Asia’s newest Top 5 team after promotion from Division I in 2010.

China 15s and 7s player and member of the China 7s coaching team Zhang Zhiqang was also on hand to represent nations participating in the HSBC Asian Sevens Series.

Giles Morgan, Group Head of Sponsorship for HSBC Holdings, explained the reason the bank continues to invest in rugby.

“Quite simply, rugby union works for HSBC in terms of enabling HSBC to communicate directly with so many target customers in key regions around the world. Rugby union shares many of the same values as HSBC as the world’s local bank – bringing together people from different cultures and communities with a shared passion, and it has proved to be a successful fit for our business.

“At the heart of every HSBC sponsorship is a commitment to the local community and the HSBC Asian 5 Nations in particular has a major community programme integrated with the sponsorship.

To ensure a legacy, as well as coaching children, adults involved in this year’s coaching tour will be trained to IRB Level One enabling them to continue teaching youngsters to play the game in future years. It is the biggest investment in the growth of the sport of its kind in Asia.”

To celebrate the renewal of HSBC’s sponsorship of the HSBC Asian 5 Nations and the launch of the new HSBC Asian Sevens Series, Mark McCombe, CEO of HSBC Hong Kong (fourth from right) is joined by international rugby players from China (second from left) and each of the Top 5 countries competing in the 2011 HSBC Asian 5 Nations, namely Hong Kong, Japan, Sri Lanka, the UAE and Kazakhstan.