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[26 July 2010, Guangzhou, China]:
China Women’s National Sevens team successfully defended its title as the top team in Asian Women’s Sevens after claiming victory in the IRB Asian Women’s Rugby Sevens Championship in Guangzhou, China on Sunday (25 July). Kazakhstan, Asia’s qualifier for the 2010 IRB Women’s Rugby World Cup (15s), finished as the runner-up while Thailand and Japan took 3rd and 4th place respectively. The Asian Women’s Sevens championship served as Asian Rugby’s test event for the upcoming Guangzhou 2010 Asian Games Rugby Sevens competition which will be played from November 21 – 23, 2010. Thirteen of Asia’s premier women’s rugby sevens teams took part in the two-day championships, reflecting the growth in Asian sevens since the admission of Rugby Sevens to the Olympic Games sports canon for the Rio Olympics in 2016. The national women’s sevens teams of Korea and Philippines marked their debut international competition in Guangzhou, with the Philippines finishing in a respectable 9th place. China completed the tournament with a clean slate to retain the title the team first won last year in Pattaya, Thailand. The win continued a purple patch for Team China after winning the Bowl in the Rugby World Cup Sevens in Dubai in 2009. For the tournament, the teams were pooled into four groups based on the rankings of the 2009 Asian Women’s Sevens Championship in Pattaya. On the first day of competition in Guangzhou, (Sat Jul 24, 2010), the hosts defeated each of their competitors in Pool A, with convincing wins over 7th ranked Hong Kong China and Philippines, who, as a debut side in the IRB Asian Women’s Sevens Championships, was unranked. Thailand, runners-up at home in 2009, were ranked second overall and grouped in Pool B alongside 8th ranked Chinese Taipei and Korea. Pool C featured another Asian powerhouse Kazakhstan (ranked 3rd) along with Singapore (9th) and India (13th), while Pool D was topped by fourth ranked Uzbekistan, 11th seeds Laos and 12th seeds Malaysia, and Japan, who was unranked as it did not take part in 2009 but were crowned Asian champions in 2008. The pre-tournament favourites China, Thailand, Kazakhstan and Japan emerged undefeated after day one and progressed to the medals quarterfinals along with the second placed team in each pool. The remaining teams were seeded into a bowl competition for a Round Robin tournament to determine the full ranking of the top 13 women’s sevens sides in Asia. On day two, China continue to steamroll its opposition blanking Uzbekistan 24-0, then staving off a valiant challenge from Japan 19-7 in the medal semi final to book its place in the gold medal final. Kazakhstan advanced from its bracket after shutting out Chinese Taipei 36-nil and edging Thailand 25-10 to reach the final. Before the finale, Thailand beat a tiring Japan VII to win bronze.The final saw China put the icing on the cake in front of its enthusiastic local supporters with a 26-10 win over Kazakhstan. The game was never in the balance as China jumped out to an early lead and then hung on with ease to the delight of the spectators. China will be in the now familiar favourites role as the action heats up in the 2010 Asian Games, which marks the first Asian Games rugby competition for women in the history of the event. The Asian Games will be held from November XX – XX, 2010.
For more information on the Asian Women’s Rugby Sevens Championship or the Rugby competition at the upcoming Asian Games, please contact Sean Moore on +852 9095 8889 or sean.moore@elitestep.com .
Asian Women’s Sevens Championship 2010 Final Standings
1. China
2. Kazakhstan
3. Thailand
4. Japan
5. Hong Kong, China
6. Singapore
7. Chinese Taipei
8. Uzbekistan
9. Philippines
10.Malaysia
11.India
12. Laos
13.Korea
Day 2
1. Medal Quarterfinal - China 24 v 0 Uzbekistan Pool D2
2. Placing 9 to 13 Pool E - Philippines 31 v 0 Korea Pool B3
3. Medal Quarterfinal - Japan 24 v 0 Hong Kong Pool A2
4. Medal Quarterfinal - Kazakhstan 36 v 0 Chinese Taipei Pool B2
5. Placing 9 to 13 Pool E - Korea 7 v 22 India Pool C3
6. Medal Quarterfinal - Pool B1 Thailand 45 v 10 Singapore Pool C2
7. Placing 5 to 8 - Loser M16 Uzbekistan 5 v 14 Hong Kong Loser M18
8. Placing 9 to 13 - Pool E - Pool A3 Philippines v India Pool C3
9. Placing 5 to 8 - Loser M19 Chinese Taipei 10 v 19 Singapore Loser M21
10. Placing 9 to 12 - Pool D3 Malaysia 17 v 7 India Pool E2
11. Placing 9 to 12 - Pool D4 Laos 0 v 40 Philippines Pool E1
12. Medal Semi final - Winner M16 China 19 v 7 Japan Winner M18
13. Medal Semi final - Winner M19 Kazakhstan 25 v 10 Thailand Winner M21
14. Placing 11/12 - Loser M25 India 19 v Laos 5 Loser M26
15. Placing 9/10 - Winner M25 Malaysia 0 v 20 Philippines Winner M26
16. Placing 7/8 - Loser M22 Uzbekistan 7 v 22 Chinese Taipei Loser M24
17. Placing 5/6 - Winner M22 Hong Kong 24 v 12 Singapore Winner M24
18. Bronze Medal Match - Loser M27 Japan 0 v 19 Thailand Loser M28
19. Gold Medal Match - Winner M27 China 26 v 10 Kazakhstan Winner M28
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