China have won the Asia Rugby U18 Girls Sevens tournament after beating Hong Kong 28-5 in the final thanks to Chenjie Ge's double and a try apiece for Weiyan Wang and Jing Dai.
It was an exceptional event put on by Rugby India and a fitting finale for all those involved in Bhubaneswar with more than 15,000 people attending across the three days.
With 12 teams participating it gave everyone a chance to not only play in a competitive field but also in front of a capacity crowd, with many spectators coming from the Get Into Rugby programme which is making great strides in Asia.
Former India Rugby player and famous actor and filmmaker in India, Rahul Bose, was delighted with the event which was streamed live.
All three match days were streamed on both the Rugby India and Asia Rugby Facebook and YouTube channels, as well as on all 12 participating team’s channels to a global audience of more than 85,000 people.
Inspirational event
“The event is the beginning of a celebration, that a sport like rugby was finally hosted by our country," said Bose.
“It has been a true honour to have been a part of this sport and, as a former player, I hope this tournament will inspire current players, those new to the game and future generations towards this sport.”
Hosts India finished fourth in the tournament after losing to Thailand 25-5, but the event and the home side’s performance gave the capacity crowd a lot to cheer.
Sweety Kumari (pictured), one of the standout performers and the tournament's top try scorer with 15 was pleased that Rugby India was able to put on such a good showcase for the sport.
“Rugby in India has really grown and improved,” said Kumari. “Before hardly anyone knew or played rugby but now everyone knows and it is only going to continue to grow.
“We really enjoyed the tournament with so many supporters and we loved the support from the crowd as hosts.”
Elsewhere Qatar beat the Philippines 15-10 to win the Plate competition, the UAE beat Sri Lanka 22-0 to finish seventh and Laos won all three of their matches in the round robin to lift the Bowl title, beating Nepal 30-0, Chinese Taipei 32-0 and Bangladesh 51-0.