From humble beginnings in 1976, the Hong Kong Sevens has grown into the city's leading sports event, famed throughout the world. This year, as the tournament celebrates 40 years, we're taking a ride through the SCMP archives to see how the event became the jewel in the sevens crown. 

And if you see yourself or a friend in any of the pictures in our eight-part series, click here to enter your best memories of the Sevens and the most original/entertaining answers will win a pair of three-day tickets to this year’s Cathay Pacific/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens from March 27-29.  

We begin part 6 in 2001, Karl Te Nana was the star as New Zealand retained their title, beating - you guessed it - Fiji 29-5 to win for an eighth time. 

Fiji coach Tomasi Cama did the unthinkable and dropped his old teammate Waisale Serevi - it backfired badly as they missed their talisman. 

Hong Kong won another Bowl competition - with Ricky Cheuk Ming-yin becoming the first local Chinese player to score a try in the tournament. 

And the event was also notable for being the first sellout since the financial woes of 1997. Now of course, tickets are rarer than hen's teeth.