RUGBY SEVENS: Japan the best, Malaysia sixth

By Jugjet Singh

MALAYSIA'S campaign in the Borneo Sevens came to a stuttering halt when they lost to the Philippines in the quarter-finals at the Likas Stadium in Kota Kinabalu yesterday.
And after that, they rolled further downhill when they were beaten 19-0 by Taiwan and ended sixth at their own back-yard, and said good bye to the Rugby Sevens World Cup ticket.
For the record, Malaysia had beaten Taiwan 17-0 in their Group B match.
The Malaysian women had a worse day in office in the Asia Pacific Women's Sevens, when they ended last after failing to score a single point in all their matches.
Japan lifted the Cup after thrashing Philippines 46-0 to become the best in the region.
Malaysian men's coach Coach Wan Ibrahim Wan Chik attributed the downhill slide, after starting with two wins, to injuries and lack of exposure.
"We started off well by beating Brunei and Taiwan, but after that, injuries crept into the team and we lost three back-line players by the time we played Taiwan again.
"Also, seven out of 12 players are 18-years-old, and they lack experience, while the seniors lacked fitness in the quarter-fnals," said Wan Ibrahim.
The coach feels his charges should play more often against foreign sides: "Hockey and foootball players regularly play overseas and are fast improving, while rugby players hardly get to play out of the country.
"In Malaysia, these are the best we have, but they are not good enough to play against teams in this region. We need to arrest this problem fast," said Wan Ibrahim.
TODAY: Men (Quarter-finals) -- Malaysia 14 Philippines 28, China 31 UAE 10, Hong Kong 36 Taiwan 0, Japan 36 South Korea 0.
Cup Semi-finals: China 17 Philippines 19, Hong Kong 12 Japan 15.
Cup Final: Philippines 0 Japan 46; Third-Fourth: China 14 Hong Kong 34.
Plate Semi-finals: Malaysia 40 UAE 5, Taiwan 24 South Korea 2.
Plate Final (Fifth-Sixth): Malaysia 0 Taiwan 19; Seventh-Eighth: UAE 17 South Korea 12.
Bowl Semi-finals: Thailand 19 Sri Lanka 26, Brunei 0 Kazakhstan 26.
Bowl Final (ninth-10th): Sri Lanka 26 Kazakhstan 17; 11th-12th: Thailand 31 Brunei 3.
Women: Final: Papua New Guinea 24 China 10; Third-Fourth: Sri Lanka 17 Kazakhstan 5; Fifth-Sixth: Cook Islands 5 Singapore 7; Seventh-Eighth: Malaysia 0 Tonga 42.