Asian Rugby Sevens Series: Indian women secure third consecutive top-6 finish

Indian women's rugby sevens team finished in 6th place at the first leg of the 2026 Asian Rugby Sevens Series season opener in China on Sunday.

India lost 12-17 to Kazakhstan in a closely fought fifth-place play-off match, missing out on what could have been their highest-ever finish at this event.

Overall, it's a consistent performance from the girls who were promoted to this event last year and have now registered their third consecutive top-six finish at the series, following the two 6th-place finishes last year.

However, in all three meetings, India failed to find a way past the experienced Kazakh side and lost to them in the same 5th-place playoff matches.

The Indian team will now look to improve their standing in the second leg in Sri Lanka in October and at the Asian Games in Japan next month.

Meanwhile, the Indian men’s team, which returned to the top tier this year after 16 years, had a difficult start and finished last in the 12-team men’s competition.

They registered their first and only win in the final 9th-to-12th place qualification match against Singapore, but ended up last due to an inferior head-to-head record against Uzbekistan.