Day One Results of Borneo Sevens

Japan, Hong Kong and China top Pools after Day One of Borneo Sevens

[ARFU.COM]: Japan, Hong Kong and China topped their respective pools after the first day’s play in the Borneo Sevens in sunny Sabah, Malaysian Borneo.
Japan finished the day with an unblemished record of three games, three wins, scoring 105 points and conceding none in today’s play. The Brave Blossoms were particularly impressive in blanking an in-form Malaysia 22 – nil in today’s final Pool A game. Malaysia went two and one from its three matches on the way to posting a points for and against of 66 to 22, good for second place in the pool.

The loss was Malaysia’s first of the day after both of the top two Pool A seeds surpassed Thailand and Indonesia. Thailand took its revenge for going winless throughout the day with a 41-0 victory over Indonesia, a side that is competing in its first Asian Rugby Sevens Series event of the year and its first sevens tournament as a national team in several years.

An injury racked Hong Kong topped Group B today after edging Korea 14-12. Korea was the winners of the Shanghai Sevens, the other ranking event on this year’s Asian Rugby Sevens Series, in September. The Koreans can take solace by the fact that in Shanghai they also lost to Hong Kong in the pool round before going on to win the tournament, beating Japan in the final. The thrilling win put Hong Kong into clear first place with an undefeated record and a plus +83 points total for the day.

Another team making its debut on the new Asian Rugby Sevens Series today, Guam put in a highly creditable performance today. Guam ran Korea close in the first Pool B match losing just 14-19. Guam also put points on the board against Hong Kong losing 38-14 and beat Brunei 38-5 in its 3rd/4th seed pool match to make its way into tomorrow’s Cup competition.

Top seed in Pool C China neatly dispatched its main opponents in the pool Chinese Taipei with a 40-14 win. Both teams made short work of their pool mates, beating India and Philippines easily.

Philippines, the runners-up in the Brunei Sevens a week ago (losing in the finals to Malaysia) continued their strong form giving up just 14 points to China in its opening match. The Philippines Volcanoes then nearly upset the formbook today as they were leading third seed India 7-nil until letting the Indians cross over for the game winner deep in injury time to concede the draw.

The performances from Guam, the Philippines and Malaysia, (winners of last week’s Brunei Sevens), all of whom are participating in their first Asian Rugby Sevens Series ranking event continue to point out the parity in Asian Sevens and bode well for the continued development of the Asian Rugby Sevens Series.

At the end of day one, Japan, China and Hong Kong topped the points table with perfect records and nine points, followed by Korea and Malaysia on seven. Philippines occupied sole position on 6 points with its draw against India while Guam, Thailand and Chinese Taipei finished with five points. India ended on four points and Indonesia with three. Thailand advanced to the Cup competition ahead of Chinese Taipei with a +2 points differential.

The results see Japan and Thailand in the first Cup Quarterfinal that will kick off at 10.00 tomorrow (Malaysia time). Korea take on the Philippines, Hong Kong face Guam and China meets Malaysia in the other three Quarterfinals which will be held at 10.20, 10.40 and 11.00 respectively.

Chinese Taipei will face Indonesia and Brunei and India meet in the Bowl Semifinals.
In today’s women’s competition, Thailand, the second ranked team in Asian women’s sevens overpowered India and Malaysia 39-0 and 52-0. In their game, India beat Malaysia 21-10.
Borneo Sevens Day One results

Chinese Taipei 24 India 0
China 14 Philippines 0
Korea 19 Guam 14
Hong Kong 62 Brunei 5
Malaysia 34 Thailand 0
Japan 57 Indonesia 0
Chinese Taipei 5 Philippines 24
China 45 India 0
Korea 56 Brunei 0
Hong Kong 38 Guam 14
Malaysia 32 Indonesia 0
Japan 26 Thailand 0
India 7 Philippines 7
China 40 Chinese Taipei 14
Guam 38 Brunei 5
Hong Kong 14 Korea 12
Thailand 41 Indonesia 0
Japan 22 Malaysia 0