Rugby’s Hong Kong and Singapore Sevens have been postponed over the novel Coronavirus outbreak.
The popular Rugby events have been moved from April 2020 to October 2020 over the coronavirus, joining the World Indoor Athletics Championships, Chinese Grand Prix, golf and football fixtures on the growing list of sporting casualties.
The decision, which disrupts sevens rugby in the run-up to the Tokyo Olympics, was made “in response to continued health concerns relating to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak”, World Rugby said.
“The health and safety of our players, fans and everyone working on the event is always our highest priority,” it added in a statement.
The flagship Hong Kong Sevens was slated for April 3-5, with Singapore a week later. Both cities are scrambling to deal with the virus, with 50 confirmed cases each and one death in Hong Kong.
The Singapore tournament will now take place on October 10-11 and Hong Kong a week later on October 16-18, concluding this year’s 10-stop world series.
The Hong Kong Sevens will return to its usual slot next year, the city’s rugby chief told AFP, adding that he expected to sell out both the 2020 and 2021 tournaments even though they are just six months apart.
Asia’s sports schedule has been hammered by the coronavirus, with Singapore’s HSBC Women’s World Championship, starting on February 27, among two golf events cancelled this week.
The COVID-19 death toll leapt to 1,367 this week with nearly 60,000 infections in China, where the virus is thought to have emerged in the city of Wuhan.
Source: Capital Sports.
