The World Rugby Sevens Series is an annual series of international rugby sevens tournaments run by World Rugby featuring national sevens teams. Organised for the first time in the 1999–2000 season as the IRB World Sevens Series, the competition was formed to promote an elite-level of international rugby sevens and develop the game into a viable commercial product. The competition has been sponsored by banking group HSBC since 2014.
Waisale Tikoisolomoni Serevi is a Fijian former rugby union football player and coach, and is a member of the World Rugby Hall of Fame. Serevi is renowned for his achievements in rugby sevens, while also enjoying a long career in fifteen-a-side rugby at both club and national team levels. Nicknamed "The Wizard" by commentators, he is widely considered to be the greatest rugby sevens player in the history of the game. A biography of Serevi titled Waisale Serevi: King of Sevens by Nick Darvenzi was published in 2018.
The ICC Intercontinental Cup was a first-class cricket tournament organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC) as part of its cricket development programme. It was designed to allow Associate Members of the ICC the chance to play first-class cricket matches over four days against teams of similar skill in a competition environment and prepare them for eventual promotion to Test cricket status. First run in 2004, two of the most successful teams in the history of the tournament, Ireland and Afghanistan were promoted to Full Member and Test status, in 2017.
The Nepal national cricket team nicknamed The Rhinos and Gorkhalis, represents the country of Nepal in International cricket and is governed by the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN). They have been an Associate Member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) since 1996. Nepal were awarded Twenty20 International (T20I) status by the ICC in June 2014 until the 2015 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier. On 15 March 2018, Nepal gained One Day International (ODI) status for the first time, after winning the first playoff match in the 2018 Cricket World Cup Qualifier.
The Hong Kong national cricket team is the team that represents independent Hong Kong in international competition. It played its first match in 1866 and has been an associate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) since 1969.
The United Arab Emirates national cricket team is the team that represents the United Arab Emirates in international cricket. They are governed by the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) which became an Affiliate Member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 1989 and an Associate Member the following year. Since 2005, the ICC's headquarters have been located in Dubai.
The 2009 Rugby Sevens World Cup was the fifth edition of the Rugby World Cup Sevens. The International Rugby Board (IRB) selected Dubai in the United Arab Emirates as the host venue for the tournament ahead of bids from four other countries. The format included nine direct qualifiers and a further fifteen qualifiers from all six regions defined by the IRB. A women's version of the world cup was also held alongside the men's tournament for the first time and featured sixteen teams. The men's cup was won by Wales, with the women's cup going to Australia.
The Arabian Gulf rugby union team was a combined team of players that represented the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council in international rugby union competitions. The team competed in international matches between 1993 and 2010, and was governed by the Arabian Gulf Rugby Football Union (AGRFU). Associate members were Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan.
The 2008–09 IRB Sevens World Series was the tenth of an annual IRB Sevens World Series of rugby union sevens tournaments for full national sides run by the International Rugby Board since 1999–2000.
Spain's national rugby sevens team is one of 15 core teams participating in all ten tournaments of the World Rugby Sevens Series, having qualified by winning the 2017 Hong Kong Sevens qualifier tournament. Spain participated as a core team in the 2012–13 IRB Sevens World Series, but was relegated the following season.
The 2011 Emirates Cup of Nations was held at The Sevens Stadium in Dubai as a season ending tournament for tier 3 teams from different continents. The four competing teams were hosts UAE, Asian 5 Nations rivals Hong Kong, 2011 Africa Cup champions Kenya and South American Rugby Championship A Division team Brazil.
The World Rugby Women's Sevens Series, is a series of international rugby sevens tournaments for women's national teams run by World Rugby. The inaugural series was held in 2012–13 as the successor to the IRB Women's Sevens Challenge Cup held the previous season. The competition has been sponsored by banking group HSBC since 2015.
The 2018 ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier was a cricket tournament that took place during March 2018 in Zimbabwe. It formed the final part of the Cricket World Cup qualification process for the 2019 World Cup in England and Wales. The top two teams, Afghanistan and the West Indies, qualified for the World Cup, joining the hosts and the seven teams who had already qualified through their ranking in the ICC ODI Championship. Afghanistan won the tournament, beating the West Indies by 7 wickets in the final. Afghanistan's Mohammad Shahzad was named the player of the match and Zimbabwe's Sikandar Raza was named the player of the tournament.
Jonny Rees is a current Hong Kong Rugby Union player. He plays for the Hong Kong Football Club, the Hong Kong National Team and previously for the Hong Kong Sevens team. Rees made his international debut in 2012 at the 2012 Cup of Nations tournament in Dubai against Zimbabwe. He featured in the 2013 Asian Five Nations match against the Philippines where he scored two tries to help Hong Kong to a 59 – 20 victory in Manila. He had also scored two tries earlier in the tournament against the United Arab Emirates beating them 53 – 7.
The 2015 Cup of Nations was the third Cup of Nations tournament, but the first held outside the United Arab Emirates. Unlike 2011 and 2012, the Cup of Nations was staged in Hong Kong at the Hong Kong Football Club Stadium from November 13 to 21. The tournament acted as a year ending tournament for tier 3 teams from different continents and provides greater preparation for teams to play in their regional competitions, especially this year participants who aim to qualify for the 2019 Rugby World Cup haven failed to qualify for the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
The 2000 Dubai Sevens was an international rugby sevens tournament that was the second leg of the 2000–01 World Sevens Series. The Dubai Sevens took place at the Dubai Exiles Rugby Ground on 23–24 November 2000.
The 2019 ICC Men's T20 World Cup Qualifier was a cricket tournament held during October and November 2019 in the United Arab Emirates to determine which teams would qualify for the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup tournament. The six teams finishing highest in the qualifier tournament joined Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in the first group stage of the 2020 ICC Men's T20 World Cup. The tournament formed part of the ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier series, with the Netherlands winning the final.
The 2018 Dubai Sevens is the twentieth edition of the Dubai Sevens tournament. It was the first tournament within the 2018–19 World Rugby Sevens Series. It was held on 30 November–1 December 2018 at The Sevens Stadium in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The 2019 Dubai Sevens was the first tournament within the 2019–20 World Rugby Sevens Series and was the 20th international edition and the 50th overall of the Dubai Sevens since it began in 1970. It was held on 5–7 December 2019 at The Sevens Stadium in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
United Arab Emirates 
Zimbabwe 
Belgium (1st title)
Hong Kong 