Hong Kong welcomes public into new sporting home as Kai Tak Stadium opens doors
University rugby sevens tournament serves as test event for the venue as it prepares to host Hong Kong Sevens, Coldplay and National Games
Thousands of people filed into Kai Tak Stadium on Sunday for the finals of a university rugby sevens tournament, the first real test of Hong Kong’s new 50,000-seat venue.
Gates opened at 10am, and organisers said 4,300 people had passed through within the first hour. In total, of the 17,5oo tickets distributed to rugby clubs, youth groups and other local organisations, some 10,247 spectators attended the event.
This – the University Sports Federation of Hong Kong, China’s sevens tournament finals – was the largest of the test events to have been held at the new Kai Tak Sports Park (KTSP) so far.
Its numbers still paled compared with those expected for the Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens in March and the arrival of British band Coldplay in April, let alone the National Games in November, but they were enough to give officials and public alike a taste of what will follow.
Chris Brooke, chairman of Hong Kong China Rugby, said he considered it to have been “a very successful day, at a great facility”.
“There’s nothing more valuable than running a tournament in the facility to spot a few things that we may not have spotted if we hadn’t come here before March,” he added.
