After the success of the women’s championship in Pune that concluded last week, it’s Mumbai’s turn to host the third and final leg of the HSBC Asian Rugby7s for men. The tournament will be held at the Bombay Gymkhana on October 13 and 14.
It will comprise 16 teams, with four of them — India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran — making their debut. India are placed in Pool D with top seed Hong Kong, sixth seed Thailand and eight seed United Arab Emirates. Pakistan are in Pool C with Chinese Taipei (seeded third), Korea (seeded fourth) and Kazakhstan.
The other two pools feature Japan and China (seeded second). Japan are pooled with Philippines (7), Singapore and Afghanistan, while China have Sri Lanka (5), Malaysia (9) and Iran in their cluster.
Japan will be awarded an average of points based on their performance in Borneo 7s (which they won). They had to withdraw from the Shanghai 7s owing to ongoing Sino-Japanese political tension which was also factored in while deciding the seedings.
The teams, including Pakistan, are expected to land on Friday. “Pakistan players have got their visas and will be here on Friday. I want to thank the government of India’s various ministries for clearing the visas of all the overseas teams,” said Indian Rugby Football Union president Pramod Khanna.
Trevor Gregory, vice president of the Asian Rugby Football Union, said he had witnessed “noticeable progress” in the Indian men’s 15-a-side team over the years as they have started beating countries such as China.
