Olympic qualification begins in Asia
Uzbekistan made a small piece of history last weekend. They were the first women's team to win an official Olympic tournament - the first Asian Olympic pre-qualifier, held in Chennai in India, seeing off opposition from India, Guam, the Philippines, Iran and South Korea.
Published by John Birch, March 10th, 2015
6 minute read
The tournament was played at the Nehru Stadium in Chennai, where - in true Olympic style - the women's tournament was given equal billing with the parallel with the men's event, with all women's games taking place in the main stadium..
The Uzbeks - whose preparations saw them travel to Europe at the end of last year for a weekend with the Dutch women's team in Amsterdam - were one of the favourties for the event, and justified that billing by going through the first day unbeaten with wins over Iran (32-0), South Korea (22-7), India (12-7) and the Philippines (17-5). However India and Guam also had a good first day, each finishing with just one defeat, and on day two Guam threw the competition wide open by beating the Uzbeks 12-10 in the final pool game.
Although a slip up, Ukzbekistan's points difference record was enough to allow them to top the pool and qualify for the final. However, despite their heroics, Guam were not able to join them, India, who had beaten Guam 15-5 to open the tournament, just sneaking in to play the Uzbeks thanks to a large win over South Korea in their final pool game.
Only the winner of the tournament would proceed to the next stage of the qualification process in Hong Kong in November, and after their shock defeat Uzbekistan made no mistake, brushing past India 38-0. Surprise team Guam took third wih a 19-10 win over the Philippines, and South Korea beat Iran 17-5 to finish fifth.
Results:
Pool
Guam 5 - 15 India
Uzbekistan 32 - 0 Iran
Philippines 19 - 14 South Korea
India 12 - 5 Philippines
Uzbekistan 22 - 7 South Korea
Guam beat Iran
India 5 - 12 Uzbekistan
South Korea 22 - 21 Iran
Guam 24 - 5 Philippines
South Korea 7 - 22 Guam
Phiippines 5 - 17 Uzbekistan
Iran 0 - 5 India
Iran 14 - 10 Philippines
India beat South Korea
Guam 12 - 10 Uzbekistan
Fifth place:South Korea 17-5 Iran
Third place:Guam 19-10 Philippines
Final:Uzbekistan 38-0 India
Asia-Pacific Cross Regional 7s in Sandakan, Malaysia (27-28 February)
Three of the teams that Uzbeksitan will face in Hong Kong met the prevous weekend in the first Asia Pacific Cross Regional 7s. China, Japan and Hong Kong were the leading teams in a three-day eight-team tournament that also included Melbourne (Australia), Thailand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, and Malaysia,
All three teams finished day one without a loss.China posting 128 points after breezy wins over invitational sides Melbourne Islanders and Thailand Select. Hong Kong also dispatched both of those teams , posting a total of 99 points with winger Aggie Poon Pak Yan scoring six tries in the opening match against Melbourne while adding six conversions. She collected two more tries against the Thai side, with three more conversions bringing the former sprinter’s tally to 58 points from just two matches. Japan were the most impressive women’s side of the day coming away with hard-fought wins over Samoa and Papua New Guinea. All three Asian sides finished level in their pool on 8 points while Samoa and Papua New Guinea are tied-first in the FORU / invitational pool with five points each.
On Day two Japan, put up the points required to be the leading Asian team in the crossover competition, giving them a semi-final against Papua New Guinea, who were beaten 29-5 by Asian third-seeds Hong Kong. Hong Kong, who were struck by injuries in their backline over the past two days, had to settle for the consolation Bowl competition after losing to Samoa, 26-17, a team that both China and Japan had beaten.
Due to the cross-regional nature of the competition, which guaranteed semi-final places for the best two Oceania and best two Asia teams, Hong Kong missed a place in the final four despite performing better than any Oceania teams, In the end the narrow Day Two loss to Samoa pushed Hong Kong out of Cup contention and the opportunity to play China or Japan in the knockout phase was lost.
Japan continued their strong form into the final day. After beating Papua they went on to defeat Asian Games gold medalists and World Series core eam China 22-7 in the Cup final. In an all-Oceania plate final, Samoa took out the silverware defeating Papua New Guinea 24-19.
Hong Kong winger Aggie Poon Pak-yan continued her outstanding performance in the women’s competition as she totaled 117 points over the three days including 25 points in the battle for the Bowl trophy against Thailand. Hong Kong crushed Thailand 55-0 with Poon scoring a hat-trick of tries, while Lindsay Varty grabbed a brace. But Hong Kong coach Anna Richards was unhappy that her side was in the consolation playoffs and not competing against the top Asian teams China and Japan. “We were hoping for more game time under pressure but that didn’t eventuate,” she said.
Cup : Japan 27-7 ChinaPlate : Samoa 24-19 Papua New GuineaBowl : Hong Kong 55-0 ThailandShield : Melbourne Islanders 20-5 Malaysia