This year's Cathay Pacific/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens tournament, which starts on Friday, boasts the largest field in the event's 38-year history.

Twenty-eight teams will do battle. The Hong Kong Sevens event has been included as part of the HSBC Sevens World Series competition and the 15 international core teams in that series plus Asian Sevens champion Hong Kong and 12 qualifiers will determine the entrants for the final Sevens World Series qualification event, the London Sevens, in May.

The move to 28 teams is the first increase in the Hong Kong Sevens field since the 24-team standard was adopted in 1984. The Hong Kong Sevens will also be the largest Sevens World Series tournament since its inception in 1999.