“I find it very exciting to be able to host the World Championships in Hong Kong. It’s like a dream,” said Gemini Fan Tak-kwan, Hong Kong’s head coach. “The goal for Hong Kong is to try to surpass our ranking from five years ago, so we need to improve on 12th place.”
“I think the support of the home crowd will give us a huge advantage.”
Hong Kong was placed in Group D with England (world number 4), Japan (world number 5), Ireland and the Jamaicans.
Hong Kong will play its remaining pool matches at the Sham Shui Po Sports Ground. Additional matches will also be played at the Kowloon Tsai Sports Ground and Shek Kip Mei Park.
“Our main goal is to do our best. If we can perform 100 percent, everything will be fine,” said Fan.
The captain of the Hong Kong team, Anbie Chan Yin-ching, was also hoping to see some familiar faces in the stands.
“It’s my first time playing in an international tournament and it’s really great that family and friends can come and watch us play,” she said.
Co-captain Scarlett Cowley said that although they faced a tough challenge against England and Japan, they were prepared for stronger opponents.
“We’ve just been on a training trip to Japan and seen their style, but they’re obviously a very good team and so are England,” she said.
This year marks the seventh edition of the World Championship, which has been dominated by five-time winners and defending champions, the United States.
However, Canada’s head coach Tami Rayner was confident that her team could top the 2019 silver medal and win a second title.
“I expect us to be in the final again. This time we have a very fast team with a lot of experience and our coaching staff is very dynamic and has a lot of experience at world championships,” said Rayner.
“We are constantly planning and preparing for the games against the USA. Because we have been part of this program for a very long time, this is something we talk about when we put together our team.
“We always want to beat the world champions.”
Canada is in Pool B with Chinese Taipei, Haudenosaunee (a coalition of six Native American nations), South Korea and Wales.
Their US rivals are in Pool A with China, Germany, Israel and Puerto Rico.
Australia, the only other team to have won the championship, is in Group C with Italy, Mexico, New Zealand and Scotland. Group C is considered the “group of death” of the tournament, as all five teams have the potential to reach the knockout stages.
After all group matches have been completed, all 20 teams will be ranked from first to last. Places one to eight will advance to the quarter-finals.
Teams ranked 9th to 20th will play two more matches to determine their final ranking. The losers of the quarterfinals will play for places five to eight.
