China dump Malaysia out of Asia Sevens
DESPITE featuring a much stronger side this time, the national rugby squad managed only marginal improvement in the second leg of the Asia Sevens Series, finishing sixth out of eight teams competing in Incheon, South Korea yesterday.
The team were unlucky to have been drawn in a tough group alongside hosts South Korea, Hong Kong and Phillipines.
National coach Saizul Hafifi Md Noor’s charges predictably fell to Korea (28-5) and Hong Kong (4012) but managed to down Philippines (17-10) at the Namdong Asiad Stadium, to finish third from four teams in group B.
Malaysia’s campaign in the cup competition came to an end in the quarter-finals, where they lost 36-10 to China.
The squad bounced back with a 26-21 win over Taiwan in the plate semi-finals only to suffer a 47-5 drubbing at the hands of Sri Lanka in the fifth-place decider.
Hafifi had called up six players from the Sea Games winning squad — Zulkiflee Azmi, Azwan Zuwairi Mat Zizi, Wan Izzudin Ismail, Nik Mohd Shahiddan Mohd Zain, Ameer Nasrun Zulkefli and Khairul Abdillah Ramli — in addition to two naturalised Fijians Etonia Vaqa Saukuru and Serupepeli Naqasima.
The team that finished seventh at the opening leg in Hong Kong earlier this month did not feature any Sea Games nor naturalised players as Hafifi experimented with his lineup.
The final leg of the series will be held in Colombo, Sri Lanka on Oct 13-14, where two slots for the Rugby World Cup Sevens in San Francisco and the Hong Kong Sevens, both next year, will be decided. Fadhli Ishak