India women’s team wins third silver medal at Asia Rugby Sevens Trophy 2023

Mumbai (Uttam Hindu News): The Indian rugby women’s team has won the silver medal for the third time in the last three editions of the Asia Rugby Sevens Trophy. In a valiant effort, the Indian women lost to the UAE in the final held at the Onazia Training Pitch in Doha, Qatar on November 3-4.

Indian Rugby Football Union President Rahul Bose said, three consecutive silver medals in the Asia Rugby Sevens Trophy is a commendable result for the women’s team. It is a testament to the consistency of their performances over the years and the path the players have taken that allows us to consistently compete at such a caliber. Congratulations also to the men’s team for finishing 5th in this edition, which is remarkable considering they finished 9th last year. We will remain determined to make our mark among the top teams in Asia.

Led by the experienced Vahbiz Bharucha, the Indian team played with great skill and kept UAE at bay in the first half of the final as they trailed by just 2 points after a brilliant try from Shikha Yadav. UAE’s dominance continued as they breached the Indian defense in the second half to widen the gap and score a total of 19 points.

The team had a comfortable journey to the finals as they defeated Iran by a huge margin of 34–0 in the semi-finals and defeated Guam 14–7 and Mongolia 36–0 to top their table. Captain Bharucha said, this is the most important event of the year for the team and we will come home knowing that we gave our best performance.

Earlier in the day, the men’s team finished fifth after defeating Qatar in the 5th-6th place match. India made a brilliant comeback with Mohit Khatri scoring a try in the last minute of the match to finish 5th, although Qatar were very close to victory.

The Prince Khatri-led side faced tough competition and made a strong start, defeating Iraq 47–0. A narrow 5-7 loss to Afghanistan in the next draw put them in the running for the Bowl Cup, where they later defeated Uzbekistan 24-7 to set themselves up for a match against Qatar.