It’s double the cheers for women’s rugby sevens team

KUALA LUMPUR: It was a double dose of good news for the national women’s rugby sevens team.

First, the players will receive incentives for winning their first Asian Rugby Trophy in Brunei Darussalam last Sunday. Second, the women’s rugby sevens will be included in next year’s SEA Games from Nov 30-Dec 10 by hosts the Philippines.

Malaysian Rugby president Datuk Shahrul Zaman Yahya congratulated the team for their promotion to next year’s Asian Rugby Series after winning the tournament in Brunei.

“Our players did well to beat the Philippines, who have import players, in the final (10-7),” said Shahrul, who thanked national coach Nik Safuan Ismade Nik Man for guiding the team to success.

“This is a good boost for the women’s team. They defied the odds to win and are now ranked eighth in Asia.

“We (Malaysian Rugby) don’t have the financial resources but we’ll ask the National Sports Council (NSC) to provide incentives for the women’s team for their success,” said Shahrul.

“The other good news is that the Philippines have agreed to host the women’s rugby sevens in the SEA Games next year.

“We want the women’s team to go one better in the SEA Games after winning bronze in the Kuala Lumpur SEA Games last year.”

Thailand won gold while Singapore bagged the silver in the KL SEA Games.

He added that they were hoping for the NSC to provide a bigger budget to prepare the team for next year’s Asian Rugby Series, which involves strong teams like Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Singapore.

Malaysia will play in three Asian rugby series in Hong Kong, South Korea and Sri Lanka from September to October next year, which is good preparation for the SEA Games.