India finishes runners-up in U18 Asia Rugby Sevens

India, on Sunday, finished as the runners up in U18 Women's Asia Rugby Sevens in Katmandu, Nepal. The Indian team lost 26-5 to the team from UAE in the final.

India were of no match to the much superior UAE girls, and were trailing 26-0 before a fantastic run down the right from Arti Kumari helped India score at least one try and salvage something out of the contest.

Arti Kumari also finished as the second highest try scorer in the competition with 9 tries against her name, while Parbati Hansdah had a staggering 12 conversions - the most in the tournament, against her name.

India had earlier finished second in the league stages with three wins over Thailand, Malaysia and Nepal and a loss against UAE.

With this runners up finish in Katmandu, India equaled their best ever showing in the U18 Women's Asia Rugby Sevens. They had finished second-best in the previous edition in 2021 too.

India Men finish fourth

On the other hand, the Indian Men's U18 team finished fourth in the tournament after suffering a 36-5 loss against Malaysia in the third-place playoff.

India had earlier finished second in Pool A with three wins and one loss to qualify for the semifinals. They were blanked 36-0 by UAE in the semifinals.

Ashok Hasdah finished as the best player for India in the tournament, scoring 3 tries.