Seven magnificent finals

First of all, hats off to China. They travelled to Thailand with the tag of heavy favourites and they proved without doubt, to all present that they were worthy of that pre-tournament billing. Not only that, they did it with style, playing fast open rugby and running in some classic seven’s scores. They are blessed throughout their entire twelve woman squad with raw speed, sure handling and bags of confidence and there’s very little answer to that combination in seven a-side rugby.

Division One had been split into two pools of five on day one, playing in a round robin format. In Pool A, hosts Thailand were the class act. They started with an absolute drubbing of Iran and never looked back, whitewashing their first three opponents and only conceding ten points on the day. They created space at will and had three superb finishers in Phanthippha Wongwangchan, Butsaya Bunrak and Naritsara Worakitsirikun to run in the tries.

Kazakhstan were very comfortable winners in their first three games but Thailand possessed too much pace, beating them 21-10 in their final pool match and confining them to second place. Without doubt the fastest try of the tournament was scored by Kazakhstan’s Anna Yakovleva who touched down only six seconds into their game against Chinese Taipei.

Third place in pool A was taken by the United Arab Emirates who recorded two wins and two losses in their first major tournament appearance. That is somewhat of a misnomer as the change from Arabian Gulf representative team to United Arab Emirates occurred only on Friday evening, after an eleventh hour intervention by the Iranian Embassy in Bangkok. Chinese Taipei pipped Iran for fourth spot having edged them 21-19.

Iran finished the day with four losses, but they demonstrated a tenacity and spirit that one might not immediately associate with women from this Islamic country. Although Iranian women are the most emancipated in the Middle East they still have to adhere to strict Islamic dress code and wear garments that fully cover the head, shoulders and neck.  They may not cut the traditional rugby look however their boundless enthusiasm coupled with a hard edge to their game, no doubt reinforced by coach Helen Vaaga, a double World Cup winning prop with the Women’s All Blacks make them formidable opponents.

In Pool B, China scored 134 points and only conceded ten and looked in a class of their own. Five of those points were scored by the surprise package of the weekend, the hard tackling Uzbekistan team. Not gifted with the attacking prowess of some of the other teams but possessing a steely defence Uzbekistan bagged three wins and took second place.

Also upsetting pre-tournament predictions were Guam , narrowly defeated by Uzbekistan and sharing the spoils with Hong Kong at 12 all, they also defeated Asian rugby stronghold Singapore 21-0 and with the Uzbek ladies have gone about rewriting the pecking order in Asian women’s rugby. Guam ooze self-belief and despite being physically one of the smallest teams on display gave no quarter in any game. Sweeper and captain, Haldre Rogers over the course of the two days, without any shadow of doubt made the most successful one on one tackles and was an absolute rock at the back for the Islanders coached by the wily Willie Hetaraka.

Hong Kong secured fourth place courtesy of their 22-15 win over Singapore who found themselves in the unaccustomed position of holding-up the pool.

In Division Two four countries, all in the early stages of developing women’s rugby played each other in a round robin format. Close neighbours Laos and Cambodia who have played each other on a few occasions were joined by teams from Malaysia and India, both competing in their first ever international tournaments..

The Indian team, only selected after last weekend’s All India Sevens and with eleven players from Pune Rugby Club (Khare’s Football and Rugby Academy) amongst the squad surged into an early lead against the more experienced Laos team. Not quite believing that they were ten points up, India somewhat took their collective eye off the ball and Laos managed to claw their way back to record a 17-10 win. They were then narrowly beaten by the Cambodian team and managed to stay within touch with the hard running Malaysians. No wins, but they left the field in high spirits with heads held high.

Malaysia, with only one women’s team in the entire country, the Royal Selangor Club and therefore only 50 players to select a squad from, performed outstandingly. This is another team which has an international women’s prop forward on the staff with Swede Susanne Olovsson, who has just helped Sweden to qualify for next year’s World Cup in the role of team manager. The side containing two women who have already represented Malaysia, Steffi Sarge Kaur (soccer) and Dianatasha Isnariah Mustapar (weightlifting) played some attractive running rugby and placed second with wins over India and Cambodia.

The Cambodian girls who punch well above their weight placed third and were only edged 7-5 by Laos who finished the day top of the group with a hundred per cent record to the obvious joy of their expatriate supporters.

The early games on day two designed to create 7 finals and give a ranking of one through to fourteen were all lopsided affairs with no surprises amongst the results. Guam in seeing off Chinese Taipei and Uzbekistan, in staying within two scores of Thailand, showed that Saturday’s form was no flash in the pan and they rightfully took their places in the upper half of the finals.

This is where this tournament really excelled. Every team had now found its level and we were treated to seven enthralling finals kicking off with Cambodia and India. Cambodia took an early lead and then pinned India inside their own half for over six minutes until Gayatri Salunke took off on an arcing run toward the Cambodian goal line. India buoyed by the equalizing score and growing in self belief then began to dominate with Wabiz Barucha taking the Cambodians on in close and with others creating space for Salunke to write her name in the record books and run in two more tries. The final score 19-5 to India.

In the battle for 11th place Laos ensured that they would go home to national acclaim by defeating Malaysia in a very competitive game 12-7. Laos has little sporting success and this victory is a real feather in the cap of all concerned with Lao rugby.

The bowl final (9th/10th place) saw regional heavyweight Singapore play new girls on the block Iran. Two early scores saw Singapore lead 10-0, but the Iranian girls are made of stern stuff. Dragging up every last ounce of effort and cheered on by a vocal bench they pulled within three points with a converted try but it was too little too late and Singapore held on to take the title. With over 500 active women players throughout Iran there is no doubt they are destined for great things in the coming years.

In the 7th/8th place final Hong Kong took an early twelve point lead and never relinquished control. Chinese Taipei pegged them back only to see the gap open up yet again. The final score 19-14 in favour of Hong Kong.

The plate final saw Guam giving away a considerable size advantage take on the United Arab Emirates. It was Guam who took the lead in the first half with Cera Taguacta sprinting away and her touch down was duly converted by sister Stephanie. The Emirates replied with a try of their own before the break, but to their dismay the conversion attempt from in front of the posts rebounded off the bar. Guam resolutely held on throughout the second period, but as the final seconds approached with glory at their fingertips instead of running the clock down by forcing the Emirates deep into their own territory they chose to run the ball in midfield. A pass then went astray which was gleefully pounced upon the Emirates team and a sixty metre sprint saw them score and take the title.

The 3rd/4th play-off was a bruising all Central Asian affair with Kazakhstan running out 26-0 winners over brave Uzbekistan. Kazakhstan will be feeling every tackle today though and if the Uzbeks can raise their offensive game to the same level as their defensive then they will be a team to watch in the next few years.

Six superb finals, could the cup final live up to what had gone before? The answer; a resounding yes. China, exuding absolute confidence shot out of the traps and silenced the home crowd with two early scores to lead 12-0. The silence was short lived however with Thailand countering with a try followed by a monstrous conversion to pull within five points at the break.

China then scored perhaps the team try of the tournament with a fantastic counter attack from beneath their own posts. This was quickly followed by another try and the game was now out of reach for the Thais. Heads did not drop however and they treated their fans to a great episode of play culminating in a second try to bring the final score to 24-14.

What an inspiring weekend of rugby, played in true sporting spirit. The women’s game in Asia must be taken very seriously indeed.

 

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Images courtesy: Tom Gittus and R.I.A

This article is also available in the following Country/s. Uzbekistan, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Laos, Kazakhstan, Iran, India, Hong Kong, Chinese Taipei, China, Cambodia, Arabian Gulf