Paris Olympics: China women cruise through in Monaco to seal final rugby sevens spot
- South Africa secure their place on the men’s side at the expense of Great Britain
China secured the final place in the women’s rugby sevens tournament at the Paris Olympics on Sunday, with South Africa taking the last spot in the men’s draw at the expense of Great Britain.
Both sides qualified for the Games after winning the Olympic repechage over the weekend in Monaco, where 12 teams in each draw battled it out for the last available place at the Games up for grabs.
Hong Kong’s men and women both made it to the quarter-finals of their competitions, but were comfortably beaten by Spain and Poland, respectively. The men lost 26-5, and the women went down 36-0.
China’s women, who have competed in the Sevens World Cup since the inaugural tournament in 2009 and were favourites to book their place, cruised through their group with big wins over Mexico, the Czech Republic and Poland.
They went on to beat Paraguay 31-0 in the last eight before facing Poland again in the semi-finals.
A 40-7 win swept China into the final where they dispatched Kenya 24-7 to qualify for their second successive Olympics.
