Led by Mumbai girl, India’s U-20 team finish 4th in Asian Rugby 7s

The Indian girls’ under-20 rugby team led by city girl Ruchi Shetty performed well to clinch the fourth position at the Asia Rugby U-20 Girls Sevens Series, which was held at the Kings Park Stadium, Hong Kong on the last weekend. Besides Ruchi, Gargee Walekar from city and Kolhapur girl Nilam Patil represented India from Maharashtra.

The team participated under the aegis of the Indian Rugby Football Union (IRFU) and was supported by Societe Generale. The tournament was played on a round-robin league basis.

Playing against Asian heavyweights, the Indian girls put up some impressive performances winning three of the six matches and finished among the top four out of the seven participating countries — China, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Uzbekistan, India and hosts Hong Kong. The formidable and more experienced Chinese girls were crowned champions.

After a tough start to the tournament, the girls turned things around on the second day, registering two successive victories. Both matches went down to the wire but they handled the pressure well. First, the Indian girls overcame Singapore 10-5 and later beat Uzbekistan 22-15.