Three wins from six earned the UAE men sixth place at the opening round of the Asia Rugby Emirates Sevens Series in Suzhou, while the women finished seventh after ending their weekend with victory over Uzbekistan.
The senior competition brought 12 men’s and 12 women’s teams to China on August 29 and 30, up from eight in previous editions. Hong Kong China won the men’s title and Japan took the women’s competition.
Sixth and seventh place did not fully reflect the UAE’s weekend, particularly after the men won three matches and came within five points of a semi-final. The women faced both eventual finalists during their campaign and finished with two victories.
UAE men come close to last four
The men made a strong start in Pool B with wins over Singapore and India.
They beat Singapore 31-12 and followed that with a 35-14 victory over India. A 61-12 defeat to Japan left the UAE second in the pool and sent them into a quarter-final against Korea.
Korea edged the quarter-final 31-26, leaving the UAE to compete for places fifth to eighth.
They responded with a 28-12 win over Malaysia before meeting Thailand for fifth place. Only three points separated the sides in the final match, with Thailand winning 17-14 to leave the UAE sixth overall.
The result fell short of the UAE Rugby Federation’s target, but three wins from six gave the side something to build on before the second round later this year.
UAE Women’s team narrow defeat to India
Women finish with victory over Uzbekistan
The women opened with a narrow 14-10 defeat to India before facing eventual champions Japan, who won 60-0.
The UAE recovered in their final pool match with a 20-0 victory over Iran to qualify for the quarter-finals.
Hosts China were next and ended the UAE’s hopes of reaching the semi-finals. China went on to reach the final, where they lost 24-7 to Japan.
The UAE then lost 19-0 to India in the classification matches before finishing their weekend with a 22-5 win over Uzbekistan to secure seventh place.
Hong Kong China beat Japan 19-7 in the men’s final to take the opening-round title.
UAE Rugby Federation Secretary-General Mohamed Sultan Al Zaabi said the final positions were below the targets set before the tournament.
“While sixth and seventh place do not meet our ultimate targets, we emerged with key positives and tactical lessons to build upon,” Al Zaabi said.
The senior teams will next turn their attention to the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games in Japan from October 1 to 3.
The Asia Rugby Emirates Sevens Series then concludes in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on October 17 and 18, when the overall men’s and women’s champions will be decided. Both Series winners will progress to SVNS 3.
UAE U18 teams next up in China
UAE rugby stays in China this weekend, with the boys’ and girls’ Under-18 teams competing at the Asia Rugby Emirates U18 Sevens in Qingdao on September 5 and 6.
The boys begin against Kazakhstan at 5.50am UAE time on Saturday. They then face Chinese Taipei at 9.10am, Uzbekistan at 12.30pm and hosts China at 3.25pm.
The UAE boys squad is Joe Wright, Hadrien de Panafieu, Tommy Wells, Ziggy Harland, Zastian van Emmenis, LJ Gataurua, Ali Baha, Adam Burkett, Tommy Jack, Ken Bach, Conni Whyte and Lue de Jong.
The girls open against Hong Kong China at 7.55am before facing India at 10.50am and Malaysia at 2.10pm.
Their squad is Charlotte Battiston, Anabel Kimmel, Imogen McSweeney, Grace Annand, Hayden Gibbs, Neve Lamont, Savannah Osuhor, Chloe Chlohessy, Gabriel McAlpine, India Mundell, Ashleigh Slow and Elle Preston.
Preston featured on Yalla Sports last month after becoming the latest member of her family to represent the UAE, following siblings Max and Charlie into representative sport.
Both U18 sides will play their opening matches on Saturday before the tournament continues on Sunday.
