The Indian women’s rugby 7s team fell short of promotion for another year, earning their fourth consecutive runners-up finish at the Asian Women’s Rugby Sevens Trophy in Nepal on Saturday.
The Indian team suffered a narrow defeat to the Philippines in a low-scoring final (5-7). Sandhya Rai scored the only try for India in the match, but it wasn’t enough for the team to secure the win.
The match started with the Indian team coming out strong, but they couldn’t find space against the solid defense of the Philippines. They committed a foul in the 6th minute of the first half, resulting in a turnover.
The Philippines capitalized on this change in possession, scoring the first try of the match and converting it to take a seven-point lead, which they maintained until halftime.
In search of a quick comeback, India made several runs from the wings in the second half, but the Philippines’ solid defense prevented them from scoring.
However, India got back in the game when Sandhya Rai made a swift run from the center, intercepting the Philippines’ defense and scoring near the crossbar.
Sandhya, who was the leading scorer for India in the tournament, opted to take the conversion that could have leveled the score, but her kick hit the side of the crossbar.
This proved to be a missed opportunity for the Indian team, as they couldn’t secure another try and ultimately lost the match, missing out on promotion for a heartbreaking fifth time.
Indian women agonisingly miss out on promotion to the top tier 😟😢
The team has to wait for atleast another year after losing a very close match in the Asian Rugby 7s trophy final, 5️⃣-7️⃣ to Philippines🇵🇭 🏉#Rugby pic.twitter.com/ebO8PrwTYg
— The Bridge (@the_bridge_in) October 5, 2024
In the men’s competition, the Indian team finished in seventh place after suffering a heavy defeat to Sri Lanka in the quarterfinals, missing out on a semifinal berth for another season.
They then faced Bahrain in a match for 5th to 8th place but lost by a single-point margin. Ultimately, India secured seventh place with a 14-7 victory over Jordan in the 7th to 8th place match.