Kathmandu, Oct. 6: The Philippines completely dominated the Asia Rugby Emirates Sevens Trophy (AREST) as both the men’s and women’s teams lifted their respective trophies at Dasharath Stadium in Kathmandu, Nepal, on Saturday.

Nepal hosted 14 men’s teams and seven women’s teams at the AREST from October 4-5. While the teams played the group stage matches on Friday, they competed in a knock-out format on Saturday.

The men’s teams hosted by Nepal were Afghanistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Chinese Taipei, India, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, and Uzbekistan, and the women’s teams were Guam, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Uzbekistan. 

Eight women’s teams were supposed to play in the AREST; however, one participant was reduced after Iran’s women’s team could not leave their country amid tensions.

Meanwhile, the men’s team of the Philippines defeated Chinese Taipei while the women’s team defeated India. They defeated Chinese Taipei by a score of 27-14 and India by 7-5.

Both teams of the Philippines had entered the knock-out stage for the Trophy as the toppers of their respective groups. The men’s defeated Bahrain by 19-14 and then Sri Lanka by 19-12 to reach the final with Chinese Taipei. 

Similarly, the women’s team defeated Indonesia by 19-10 to enter the 

final with India.  Likewise, it was Sri Lanka and Guam who finished third in the race for the Trophy in the men’s and women’s categories respectively. Bahrain was the Bowl Champions and Qatar stood tall in the Challenge.  

Nepal’s performance

Regarding the host Nepal, the men’s team could not win any of the four matches they played in two days. Nepal, as the third-positioned team from the group, had reached the Challenge Trophy after losing two games in the group stage to Uzbekistan and Bahrain on Friday. 

Nepal alongside Pakistan, Afghanistan and Qatar had entered the Challenge Trophy. While Pakistan faced Afghanistan, Nepal played against Qatar on Saturday. After losing to Qatar by a score of 0-33, Nepal played with Afghanistan for third place in the Challenge; however, Nepal was again defeated, this time by a score of 5-22.

Regarding the Nepali women’s rugby 7s team, they were able to register a win in the group stage on Friday. The girls defeated Uzbekistan by 12-7 while losing to the Philippines and Guam by 0-37 and 5-17 respectively.

Nepal then entered the Bowl competition and faced Sri Lanka on Saturday. The match was extremely competitive throughout the 14 minutes, but it ended in favour of the visitors as Nepal was defeated by a margin of two points (15-17). With the loss, Nepal finished last in the women’s category.

“I could not spend quality time with the players as I arrived in August and will be leaving this week. I am very happy with their performance in the tournament as they showed great improvement in their play,” said Fred Moe, Nepal’s head coach for the AREST.

The tournament statistics show that Nepal’s men’s team’s No. 7 Rohan Dangol was at the forefront for the Top Penalty Try and was also included in the Top 14 players by Asia Rugby. Dangol, who is also the former U-20 rugby captain, was the quickest player in Nepal’s squad.

Similarly, regarding the women’s category, Nepal’s Shrijana Rai was in the Top 4 list. 

Talking to The Rising Nepal, Moe, a coach from New Zealand, stated that Nepal had promising rugby players but there was a high need for the players to keep improving their skills and physique.

The Nepali players, both men and women, were seen struggling on the pitch against the bulky and speedy players from across Asia. 

“Men’s Rugby Sevens will debut in the South Asian Games from the upcoming edition. It will allow Nepal to play against good teams like Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. If Nepal wants rugby to flourish, Nepali players need more exposure and be busy with rugby throughout the year,” said Moe.