Hong Kong’s men have failed in their bid to qualify for next year’s World Lacrosse Championship after slipping to a 10-6 loss to hosts New Zealand in the Asia-Pacific Championship on Friday.
Victory in Wellington would have earned Hong Kong a spot in the semi-finals, and with Japan, who beat South Korea 18-7 in their play-in encounter, also going through to the last four, all the semi-finalists have reached the global tournament in Japan.
However, that was as close as they got, with New Zealand scoring five times in 15 minutes through Sam Nash, James Stacey, Dante Martin, Kyle Parker and John Clayton.
Tao bagged two more, and a Cody Lam strike narrowed the gap to 7-5 midway through the third quarter, but Stacey and Martin struck again, and while Kurtis Shum gave Hong Kong a glimmer of hope, the hosts had the final word through James Gelb.
