Hong Kongs men avenge Fogo Japan loss to take title at Lacrosse Open, but women undone by stronge

Hong Kong’s men made it third time lucky in the city’s Lacrosse Open on Sunday, finally beating arch-rivals Fogo Japan, having lost the them in the 2023 and 2019 finals.

Lam Wui-hei struck twice in an 8-5 victory for the home side, avenging the narrow 8-7 defeat in last year’s encounter.

However, the dark clouds hanging over the University of Hong Kong’s Stanley Ho Sports Centre reflected the mood in the women’s dressing room, who were unable to retain their title after losing 13-7 to Japanese side, Second Era Leaders of Lacrosse.

Cheung Wing, the Hong Kong men’s captain, said, hailed his side’s composure after the fought back from a goal down at the end of the first period, in a close-fought physical battle.

“We’ve had a long battle with them, I was in the under-20 team last year when we lost to them [Fogo Japan] in the final by one goal,” Cheung said. “We stuck together, we stayed composed and got the team win.”

Down 3-2, Hong Kong struggled to contain Fogo Japan’s Kodai Mori early on, with the defender twice picking the ball up from deep and running straight through his opponents, forcing a shot on goal with one attempt and scoring the other.

However, as the game progressed, Hong Kong found their rhythm and were able to move the ball around, winning the final two periods 3-1.

“They offered a good fight, every year we face them and they always offer a good fight, but we got it right this time,” Cheung said.

Earlier, Hong Kong’s women had seemed to be heading for a drubbing as their opponents, who boasted nine players from Japan’s national team on their roster, went 6-0 up in the opening 10 minutes.

However, Hui Ka-hei and Hon Cheuk-Yee both scored twice for the home side, who pulled a goal back before drawing the second period 2-2 and winning the third 5-3.

And despite a lively home crowd cheering them on, Hong Kong ultimately could not muster one last push.

“We knew it was going to be a hard game, but I think we played well and we fought right up until the end,” Gemini Fan Tak-kwan, head coach for the city’s women’s team, said. “We don’t get this speed of game in Hong Kong too much, so it took us a while to adjust.

“But once we settled into the game a little bit and picked out a few of their key players we started doing much better. It’s a learning curve, but I think some players did really well.”

Despite conceding 13 goals, Fan singled out the performance of goalkeeper Hong Kong Sally Yue Nga-ching, who pulled off a number of fine saves, including one that smashed off her face guard, to keep the score down.

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