Busiest-ever Asian sevens season begins

This year the Asian sevens season includes an unprecedented four tournaments in three competitions over the space of eight weeks, and it all kicked off today with the first round of the Asian sevens in Hong Kong.

Published by John Birch, August 23rd, 2014

3 minute read

Try Audio

Busiest-ever Asian sevens season begins

Its cyclone season in Hong Kong, and the former colony’s ability to provide just about every possible type of tropical weather in the space of a day (or even a few minutes) was amply demonstrated.

Kazakhstan – with a squad made up entirely of players who were only in Paris for the fifteens world cup a week ago – began in monsoon conditions against Singapore with rolling thunder in the background, but by the time the third game between Hong Kong and Sri Lanka started the sun was shining and temperatures rapidly rising.

Japan and China were the top seeds, having finished first and second last year with very little between them. Kazakhstan and Hong Kong (who are now full-time professionals, coached by ex-Black Fern Anna Richards) were similarly well matched in 2013 in third and fourth, and this was expected to continue as traditionally the other four teams – Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Sri Lanka – have normally been well behind the top teams.

And the opening games went perfectly to form with wins for all of the top four without conceding a point. This continued into the second round, where in Pool W Japan and Kazakhstan continued to be far too good for Singapore and the Philippines. However by now players were faced with hot sun, high humidity, and a temperature climbing into the 30s. This began to have an effect, most noticeably on the hosts who, despite dominating possession, were held by Thailand who came back from behind twice to earn a 12-12 draw. The Thais even came close to a shock win when Uthumporn Liamrat was tackled into touch just short of the line in the final minute.

However, Thailand’s heavy 35-0 first-round defeat to China meant that – despite a 24-0 win over Sri Lanka and a 31-12 defeat for Hong Kong by China – Hong Kong still reached the semi-finals. The other pool was decided by the speed of Japan, which was too much for a clearly tired Kazakhstani team who went down 19-5.

So the semi-finals tomorrow will see the same four teams as in both Asian legs last year, with China taking on Kazakhstan and Japan playing Hong Kong.

Results:

Pool W

Kazakhstan v Singapore 29-0Japan v Philippines 43-0Kazakhstan v Philippines 34-0Japan v Singapore 43-0Singapore v Philippines 19-0Japan v Kazakhstan 19-5

Pool X

Hong Kong v Sri Lanka 22-0China v Thailand 35-0Hong Kong v Thailand 12-12China v Sri Lanka 38-0Thailand v Sri Lanka 24-0China v Hong Kong 31-12

Upcoming Asian Sevens tournaments

Post