The Indian girls team got off to an outstanding start in the 2024 Asian U18 Rugby 7s Championships which kicked off in Johor Bahru, Malaysia on Saturday. The Indian girls clinched all three of their matches, bringing them one step closer to securing a spot in the tournament finals. On the other hand, the boys team had a less successful day, managing to win only one match out of their three games.
The Indian girls team, led by captain Vijayshree Rathore, commenced their Asian U18 Rugby 7s Championships campaign with a resounding 15-0 victory over defending champions UAE. They followed this up with another triumph, defeating a strong Hong Kong 17-10 in their second match. In their third game, they secured a one sided 30-0 win over Singapore.
The Indian girls’ team finished day 1 of the Asian U18 Rugby 7s Championships on top of the leaderboard with a total of 9 in their 3 matches. For their remaining two round-robin games, the Indian team will face off against Thailand and Malaysia on Sunday. The top two teams will progress to the final showdown on the same day.
Unfortunately, the day proved to be less fruitful for the Indian boys’ team. They commenced their tournament with a 24-0 win against Saudi Arabia. However, in their second match, despite having taken an early lead of 12-0 against Singapore, the Indian boys ultimately fell short, suffering a 12-15 defeat. To conclude their day, they succumbed to a 5-36 loss against Malaysia.
At the end of day 1, the Indian boys’ team finds itself in third place in Group A out of the five teams. In order to have any possibility of making it to the semi-finals, they will need to secure a victory against the group leaders, the UAE, in their final group match tomorrow.