It was case for so near yet so far as the Indian men and women’s rugby team tripped in the final hurdle against Iran and Uzbekistan respectively in the Asian Rugby 7s Olympic pre-qualifiers held at the Nehru stadium here on Sunday.
Like in its match against Iran on Saturday in the league stage, the final was a thrilling encounter with the teams tied 12-12 after the end of regulation time. In extra time, in golden goal format, Iran took advantage with Payam Shojaei scoring the decisive try to help book his team a berth in the Asian Olympic qualifiers to be held in Hong Kong later this year.
Earlier, India got off to a good start and seized the early initiative when Jagga Singh scored the first try which was duly converted by Sujai Lama. India then scored another try thanks to a brilliant run by P. Uthaya Sankar and Kamaldeep Dagar finished the job before Iran pulled one back.
At half time India led 12-7, but from then on, a combination of aggressive counter-attack from Iran and silly mistakes from India let the visitor come back into the game.
India’s coach Pale Tauti did not mince words in expressing disappointment. “We did some basic mistakes especially with ball retention and set pieces. We were our own enemy today and put ourselves in pressure by not taking the chances.”
In the women’s final, India was thrashed 38-0 in the finals by Uzbekistan which walked away with the title unbeaten. In the league stage India lost 12-5 to the eventual champions but in the final Uzbekistan looked a far superior side in all facets of the game.
The results (finals):
Men: Iran beat India 17-12. Women: Uzbekistan bt India 38-0.
