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Monday November 2, 2009

Malaysians fail in bid to earn World Sevens berth

By AFTAR SINGH

KOTA KINABALU: Malaysian hopes of qualifying for the IRB World Sevens in Hong Kong in March were dashed when they finished fourth in the Borneo leg of the Asian series at the Likas Sta­dium in Kota Kinabalu yesterday.

Sixth seed Malaysia, who needed to win the tournament to make the trip to Hong Kong, were beaten 7-33 by South Korea in the playoff for third place.

Malaysia, who skipped the first leg of the series in Shanghai, collected nine points for finishing fourth in the 12-team event here.

The Asian series have six legs and only two – Shanghai and Borneo – offered ranking points for teams to qualify for the world series event in Hong Kong.

Splashing time: Japan players celebrating their victory in the Borneo leg of the IRB Asian Sevens.

Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, China, Taiwan and Thailand, who also featured in Shanghai, will get to play in Hong Kong after earning more points than Malaysia.

Malaysia, who have three Fijians in their ranks (Apenisa Vasutoga, Nacani Seniu and Semi Seruvakula Sovunidakua), however, deserved credit for putting up a strong performance to upset third seeds China 22-7 in the quarter-finals. They were beaten 17-22 by second seeds Hong Kong in the semi-finals.

Japan lived up to their top billing, beating Hong Kong 38-14 in the final.

National coach Jude Rampang­jouw admitted that the chances were slim indeed for Malaysia to make the grade to Hong Kong.

“We lost out on points for not competing in Shanghai. However, I am satisfy with the performance of the team here to reach the semi-finals,” said the former international.

“The win over China was good for us. My boys were tired and could not give their best against the Koreans in the playoff for third place.”

In the three-team women’s competition, Thailand thrashed India 41-0 in the final. The Malaysian national side, who were only formed in April, lost all their matches.

Meanwhile, Negri Sembilan Wanderers edged favourites Davetalevu of Fiji 10-7 in the clubs final. The Negri team, powered by seven Fijians, received US$7,000 for their efforts while Davetalevu took home US$3,500.

n IRB ASIAN SEVENS SERIES

>> MEN

Quarter-finals: Japan 34 Thailand 5; Philippines 0 South Korea 22; Hong Kong 38 Guam 12; China 7 Malaysia 22.

Semi-finals: Japan 10 South Korea 7; Hong Kong 22 Malaysia 17.

Third-place playoff: South Korea 33 Malaysia 7.

Final: Japan 38 Hong Kong 14.

>> WOMEN

Preliminaries: Malaysia 5 India 10; Thailand 43 India 0; Thailand 35 Malaysia 0.

Final: Thailand 41 India 0.

> CLUBS

Quarter-finals: Borneo Eagles 61 Old Sabah College Association (OSCA) 0; NS Wanderers 41 Sibu Rugby Club 0; Cobra 42 Sabah Eagles 12; Davetalevu of Fiji 68 Armed Forces 0.

Semi-finals: Borneo Eagles 12 NS Wanderers 24; Cobra 24 Davetalevu 29.

Final: NS Wanderers 10 Davetalevu 7.

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