Paris Olympics: rugby sevens ref Craig Chan warmed up for debut by roaring on Vivian Kong
- Watching the fencer’s win with random strangers was ‘an incredible experience’, says Chan, who hopes to officiate in the later stages
Craig Chan Chung-ho prepared for the “unreal” experience of a refereeing debut at an Olympic rugby sevens tournament by roaring on Vivian Kong Man-wai to fencing gold in a Parisian restaurant on Saturday night.
Hong Kong referee Chan was in charge of Canada’s 17-14 pool-stage victory over Fiji on Sunday’s opening day of women’s sevens action. Chan was poised to oversee hosts France’s meeting with USA on Monday afternoon local time, before discovering whether he would be handed a quarter-final fixture later in the day.
The 31-year-old has been joined in the French capital by his partner, the women’s Hong Kong rugby star Chong Ka-yan. The couple took in France beating Fiji for men’s rugby sevens gold, before searching out a restaurant that beamed pictures of Kong’s epic Grand Palais épée exploits. Kong overturned a 7-1 deficit to beat home favourite Auriane Mallo in a gripping final.
“We found ourselves next to a group of people from Hong Kong, and the French people cheering on their athlete soon realised where we were from,” Chan told the Post.
“It was amazing to see a Hong Kong athlete achieve that comeback and win Olympic gold. I have never witnessed anything like it. I wish I was in the arena, but to watch it with random people from Hong Kong and France was an incredible experience.”
