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Sevens programme sells out in record time

Hong Kong, 3 April 2008 - Two Up Front’s official Hong Kong Sevens souvenir programme and pocket guide sold out in just a few hours at the rugby showpiece.

The lavishly designed and illustrated dual publication proved to be a prized possession among fans and by 11am on the second day of the three-day tournament all copies had been snapped up.

The Hong Kong Rugby Football Union was delighted. “The official programme for the 2008 event was a fantastic publication and we received a lot of very positive feedback on yet another great read,” said the Union’s Sevens and commercial manager Warrick Dent.

With the stadium open for around seven hours on the first evening of the Sevens and the public being re-admitted at 7:45am on the second day, it meant the programme and pocket guide sold out in around 10 hours.

“Since we took over responsibility for producing the Sevens programme in 2005 it has sold out every year, but this was the first time all copies had gone by the second day,” said Two Up Front editorial director Niall Donnelly.

“It speaks volumes for the quality of the programme and we feel that over the past four years we have raised the bar for tournament publications – not just at the Sevens, but other events as well.”

The dual publication format for the Sevens has proved extremely popular with fans, players and officials. Many people like to keep the programme in their bag or hotel room, to be saved as a permanent souvenir, while carrying the pocket guide so they can keep up with matches and fill in the score boxes.

A key feature of the 2008 programme was a 12-page retrospective, “My Favourite Sevens”, in which great players of the past wrote first-hand about their memories of the tournament.

Contributors included Sir Clive Woodward (Barbarians), David Campese (Australia), Eric Rush and Jonah Lomu (both New Zealand), Daisuke Ohata (Japan), Simon Amor (England) and five-time Player of the Tournament Waisale Serevi (Fiji).

Two Up Front also publishes the HKRFU’s official magazine, Rugby Talk, and the souvenir programmes for the GFI HKFC Tens rugby tournament and UBS Hong Kong Open golf showpiece.

In addition, the company handles worldwide PR for the GFI Hong Kong Tens, the UBS Hong Kong Open, the Hong Kong International Soccer Sevens and the Ballantine’s Championship golf tournament in Korea.

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