The Kenya men’s national sevens rugby team have been drawn in Pool D for Hong Kong 7s scheduledfor 4-6 November 2022 in Hong Kong.
Shujaa, who placed 12th at the close of the 2021/22 HSBC Sevens World Series with 49 points have been pooled with Argentina, Canada and Ireland.
Series champions Australia headline Pool A which also features their Trans Tasman neighbors New Zealand, Samoa and hosts Hong Kong while South Africa are in Pool B with France, Great Britain and Uruguay who debut on the series as a core side.
Fiji are top seeds in Pool C with USA, Spain and Japan completing the pool composition.
Hong Kong Sevens
POOL A: Australia, New Zealand, Samoa, Hong Kong
POOL B: South Africa, France, Great Britain, Uruguay
POOL C: Fiji, USA, Spain, Japan
POOL D: Argentina, Ireland, Kenya, Canada
Shujaa Schedule in Hong Kong
Friday 4 November 2022: Kenya v Ireland ( 1040 EAT)
Saturday 5 November 2022: Kenya v Argentina ( 625EAT)
Saturday 5 November 2022: Kenya v Canada ( 945EAT)
Eintracht Frankfurt supporters played a key role in the German side winning the UEFA Europa League title on Wednesday, among them Marc Bruch who lives and works in Hong Kong but made a long trip to witness the final in Seville.
Following his favorite club was a must for the 42-year-old, despite having to travel over 11,000 kilometers to attend the 2022 Europa League final in Seville when Eintracht crossed swords with Rangers.
A section of Frankfurt fans in a stadium
Taking a flight from Hong Kong to Istanbul followed by a connection to Madrid, the German supporter hopped into a train carrying him to the south of Spain.
On Wednesday evening, Bruch got exactly the reward he was dreaming of. After a stressful 30-hour trip, the fan was part of the enthusiastic crowd celebrating Germany’s first Europa League triumph since 1997.
After a nail-biting encounter over 120 minutes (1-1), Frankfurt won 5-4 in a thrilling penalty shootout. 42 years after the club won its last continental title in 1980, Oliver Glasner’s team finally did it again.
The 2021-22 competition ended with Eintracht as the only unbeaten team, not losing any of its 13 games.
Among tens of thousands of fans, the Hong Kong resident couldn’t hold back his emotions. Unleashed chants and celebrations followed a successful journey over recent months, including a surprising victory over Spanish giants FC Barcelona.
Frankfurt became the only fourth German team after Leverkusen (1988), Bayern (1996), and Schalke (1997) to win the Europa League or its precursor competition, the UEFA Cup.
Since the restructured Europa League was established in the 2009-10 season, no German side had won the competition.
In the 2018-19 season, Frankfurt was the surprise of the campaign as the team reached the semifinals against Chelsea but narrowly lost on penalties.
Since then, the Europa League has turned into the club’s favorite competition.
About 50 000 fans followed the side to Barcelona and created a home-soil atmosphere in the Camp Nou. Incredible support continued around the final in Sevilla.
Close to midnight, a brave save from Frankfurt keeper Kevin Trapp secured the 2022 trophy, along with qualification for next season’s Champions League.
“We are all heroes,” the German international said.
“We all did this, just take a look at that,” Trapp added as he pointed in the direction of the Eintracht fans.
German international Ansgar Knauff admitted he was “close to a heart attack” during the penalties. A year ago, the 20-year-old was playing in Germany’s third-tier in Borussia Dortmund’s second team before joining Frankfurt on loan.
“This was a team effort and that is including our fans,” captain Sebastian Rode said after he played over 90 minutes despite suffering from a wound on his forehead since the game’s early stages.
In the streets of Seville, tens of thousands of Eintracht fans celebrated until the early morning hours. Back in Frankfurt, over 100,000 supporters started spontaneous parties in the club’s arena around a public viewing and uncountable beer gardens.
Over 200,000 fans are expected to cheer the team after returning to Frankfurt this Thursday at the city’s famous Romer Place on the town hall’s balcony.
Kenya Sevens is on the brink of losing their core status after defeats to New Zealand and Australia on the second day of the sixth leg of the HSBC World Sevens Series in Hong Kong on Saturday.
Kenya kicked off their tour of Asia with a humbling 22-5 defeat to Fiji on Friday despite the fact that Paul Murunga’s men needed at least 10 points in the remaining legs to avoid relegation-they could not march the All Blacks and a determined Australia.
All Blacks, who are the Dubai and Sydney series winners hit home six tries having taken a 12-0 lead at the break for a final score of 36-0 as Kenya fumbles from poor ball handling skills and sloppy defensive techniques.
Shujaa then lost 28-12 to Australia to drop to the Challenge Cup for the sixth time this season. They will meet Canada in the Challenge trophy quarter-final.
Kenya are 14th on the log, just a place above relegation zone.
Kenya Women’s Rugby team will take on Argentina in the Hong Kong 7s main Cup Quarters at 7pm local time.
The Kenya Lionesses finished top of Pool B with an unbeaten record following three straight victories over neighbours Uganda, hosts Hong Kong before winding up the group campaign with a win against Papua New Guinea.
Kenya thrashed Uganda 24-0 in the opening clash then sealed a 35-5 victory against Hong Kong before slaying Papua New Guinea 20-10 in the last match to top the group with nine points.
Papua New Guinea finished second in the group with seven points ahead of Hong Kong and Uganda in that order
The other quarter final will pit Brazil against Kazakhstan while Scotland and Japan will square it out with PNG and Hong Kong respectively.
The winner will gain the core status and a ticket into the 2019 Women’s World Sevens Series in Brazil next season.
