China won the Asia Rugby U18 Girls Sevens tournament beating Hong Kong 28-5 in the final thanks to tries from Weiyan Wang, Jing Dai and Chenjie Ge (2).
It was an exceptional event put on by Rugby India and it was a fitting finale for all those involved in Bhubaneswar with more than 15,000 people attending across the three days.
With 12 teams participating it gave everyone a chance to not only play in a competitive field but also in front of a capacity crowd, with many spectators coming from the Get Into Rugby programme which is making great strides in Asia.
Former India Rugby player and famous actor and film maker in India, Rahul Bose, was delighted with the event which was streamed live.
All three match days were streamed on both the Rugby India and Asia Rugby Facebook and YouTube channels, as well as on all 12 participating team’s channels to a global audience with more than 85,000 people tuning in live.
“The event is a beginning of a celebration,” said Bose. A sport like rugby was finally hosted by our country.
“It has been a true honour to have been a part of this sport and as a former player I hope this tournament will inspire current players, those new to the game and future generations towards this sport.”
Hosts India finished fourth in the tournament after losing to Thailand 25-5, but the event and the host side’s performance gave the capacity crowd a lot to cheer.
Sweety Kumari, one of the standout performers and the top try scorer from the event with fifteen was pleased with the event, the crowd and her own performance.
“Rugby in India has really grown and improved,” said Kumari. “Before hardly anyone knew or played rugby but now everyone knows and it is only going to continue to grow.
“We really enjoyed the tournament with so many supporters and we loved the support from the crowd as hosts.”
Elsewhere Qatar beat the Philippines 15-10 to win the Plate competition, the UAE beat Sri Lanka 22-0 to finish seventh and Laos won all three of their matches in the round robin to lift the Bowl title beating Nepal 30-0, Chinese Taipei 32-0 and Bangladesh 51-0.
Photo Credit: Shyam Iyer Photography
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