China win Asian gold

Rose Fong Siu-lan (Hong Kong) and Lyudmila Sapronova (Kazakhstan)

These are the 17th Asian Games - a huge event that receives little or no coverage outside of the continent (it features over 30 different sports - half as many again as at the Olympics), and this is the second games which has included women's sevens.

Despite theproblems reportedat many other venues, the rugby went smoothly. The leading four unions in Asian women's rugby seem to draw ever further away from the rest (with the possible exception of Thaliand), and that pattern was followed in Incheon. In the pool A, hot favourites China were untroubled winning all games by over twenty points and only conceding a single try. That was in their game with Japan who, defeat to China aside, also reached the semi-finals with some ease. The meeting between the two teams was decided by a brace of tries from Yu Xiaoming and one each from Lu Yuanyuan and Zhou Lilian, and was all but decided by half time when China already lead by 21-0.

In Pool B the ever-improving Hong Kong team took the group ahead of 2010 champions Kazakhstan. The crucial meeting between the two teams with the the best game of the pool phase - if not the entire competition (apart from the final) - with Hong Kong's star wing Aggie Poon Pak Yan's try in the opening minute being level by Lyudmila Sapronova for Kazakhstan just before the break, and then nothing separating the teams until Aggie Poon added (and converted) a second score with a minute to go.

After two days of pool play, medals and minor positions were decided on day three (2nd October). The first semi-final was a repeat of the 2010 fnal - but this time the pressure did not get to the Chinese, who won fairly comfortably having maintained a two try lead for most of the game. Japan's game against Hong Kong was closer, which was no surprise as Hong Kong had beaten them in the Asian Championship last month. However, Japan took an early lead and - despite a strong come-back - were able to stay ahead and reach the final.

A few hours later came the medal games, and after an impressive opening two days Hong Kong were to finish the tournament empty handed. The turning point in their bronze medal game was probably the loss of Aggie Poon - the leading try scorer in the tournament alongside Kazakhstan's Lillya Bazyaruk - early in the second half. However by that time Kazakhstan were already 12-0 ahead (with Bazyaruk getting the first try), which is how it remained.

After their performance to date - and their earlier comfortable pool win - China will have been confident about the final aganst Japan. However, they came very close indeed to repeating their shock defeat in 2010. A converted try by Lillian Zhou in the opening minute gave them an ideal start, but Japan had other ideas and Marie Yamaguchi leveled the score midway through the first half. Even so the final play of the first half saw a second try for China from Shuchao Sun - also converted - giving China a 14-7 lead at the break.

The second hald was a thriller. There was nothing to choose between the teams and no scores until Chiharu Nakamura scored Japan's second try with three minutes left. Crucially she missed her own conversion, resulting a tense final two minutes which China survived to take gold.

It was perhaps fitting that the final was decided with the boot of China's Yu Xiaoming as she finished as the tournament's top point scorer with 59 points made up of five tries and 17 conversions (from 26 kicks).

Pool A

Japan 46-0 UzbekistanSingapore 19-0 KoreaChina 29-0 UzbekistanJapan 50-0 KoreaChina 64-0 KoreaJapan 60-0 SingaporeChina 43-0 SingaporeKorea 7-10 UzbekistanChina 28-7 JapanSingapore 22-0 Uzbekistan

China W4 12ptsJapan W3 L1 10ptsSingapore W2 L2 8ptsUzbekistan W1 L3 6ptsKorea L4 4pts

9th placeKorea 34-0 Laos

Plate(5th-8th place)Semi-finalsSingapore 27-0 MalaysiaUzbekistan 0-33 Thailand

Seventh placeMalaysia 5-12 Uzbekistan

Final (Fifth place)Singapore 7-38 Thailand

Pool B

Thailand 52-0 MalaysiaHong Kong 52-0 LaosKazakhstan 74-0 LaosHong Kong 54-0 MalaysiaKazakhstan 56-0 MalaysiaHong Kong 33-14 ThailandKazakhstan 22-5 ThailandMalaysia 12-5 LaosKazakhstan 7-12 Hong KongThailand 37-0 Laos

Hong Kong W4 12ptsKazakhstan W3 L1 10ptsThailand W2 L2 8ptsMalaysia W1 L3 6ptsLaos L4 4pts

Cup(1st-4th place)Semi-finalsChina 24-12 KazakhstanJapan 17-10 Hong Kong

Third placeKazakhstan 12-0 Hong Kong

FinalChina 14-12 Japan