The Fiji Airways Fijian men’s rugby sevens team’s route to defend the Olympic Games gold medal in 2024 starts tonight at the Hong Kong tournament.

This year’s HSBC World Sevens Series is the qualifying event to the 2024 Paris Olympic Games in France. The top four men’s and women’s teams at the end of this series qualifies for Paris.

Fijian sevens captain Waisea Nacuqu said that they wanted to continue from where they had left off at Rugby World Cup Sevens in September.

“We are prepared for Hong Kong,” Nacuqu said.

“Playing in Hong Kong is like playing on our home ground.”

Head coach Ben Gollings said that Nacuqu was having a niggling injury while Filipe Sauturaga was on standby.

The Fijians, who are two-time Olympic Games gold medal winners and current world champions have won the Hong Kong Sevens title for five years-in-a-row.

Meanwhile, the Hong Kong Observatory cancelled all storm signals at 6.20am on Thursday, about 17 hours after Tropical Storm Nalgae alert was made.

According to the South China Morning Post, the forecaster said Nalgae, which means “wings” in Korean, was gradually departing from the city and no longer posing threats to Hong Kong.

Story By: Leone Cabenatabua

Feedback: leonec@fijisun.com.fj