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Sport | Rugby sevens |
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Founded | 2000 |
Most recent champion(s) | ![]() |
Most titles | ![]() |
The Asia Rugby Women's Sevens Series is the regional championship for women's international rugby sevens in Asia. Initially contested as a single tournament, the championship was expanded into a two-tournament series in 2014. The competition is sanctioned and sponsored by Asia Rugby, which is the rugby union governing body for the region.
The first official regional 7s championship for international women's teams from Asia was held in Hong Kong, played as part of the 2000 Hong Kong Sevens tournament. In 2003, ten international teams competed in a separate tournament for the Asia Champions Cup, with six teams progressing to the Hong Kong Women's Sevens. Since then, the regional 7s championships have periodically served as pre-qualifying competitions for the Rugby 7s World Cup, or other sevens tournaments.
Rugby sevens – also known as 7-a-side, or 7s – is a short form of the sport of rugby union that was first played in 1883. The first (men's) internationals took place in 1973. As women's rugby union developed in the 1960s and 1970s the format became very popular as it allowed games, and entire leagues, to be developed in countries even when player numbers were small, and it remains the main form the women's game is played in most parts of the world.
However, although the first women's international rugby union 15-a-side test match took place in 1982, it was not until 1997 before the first women's international 7s tournaments were played, when the 1997 Hong Kong Sevens included a women's tournament for the first time. Over the next decade the number of tournaments grew, with almost every region developing regular championship competitions. This reached its zenith with 2009's inaugural women's tournament for the Rugby World Cup Sevens, shortly followed by the announcement that women's rugby sevens would be included in the Olympics from 2016.
Tournaments that have featured as ranking events in the Asia Rugby Women's Sevens include:
The continental title was contested in a single tournament from 2000 to 2012 (Asia Rugby Women's Championship). The Asian Women's Sevens Series was introduced in 2013.
Host Year | ![]() China | ![]() Hong Kong | ![]() India | ![]() Korea | ![]() Malaysia | ![]() Singapore | ![]() Sri Lanka | ![]() Thailand | ![]() United Arab Emirates | Ranking events |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2013 | Pune | Bang Saen | 2 | |||||||
2014 | Beijing | Hong Kong | 2 | |||||||
2015 a | Qingdao | Colombo | 2 | |||||||
2016 | Hong Kong | Incheon | Colombo | 3 | ||||||
2017 b | Incheon | Colombo | 2 | |||||||
2018 | Hong Kong | Incheon | Colombo | 3 | ||||||
2019 | Huizhou | Incheon | Colombo | 3 | ||||||
2020 c | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | |||||||||
2021 d | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Dubai | 1 | |||||||
2022 | Incheon | Bangkok | Dubai | 3 | ||||||
2023 | Incheon | Bangkok | 2 | |||||||
2024 | TBC | |||||||||
Total | 3 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 23 |
Notes:
^a A separate Olympic Asian qualification series was held in 2015 with a pre-qualifying stage hosted in Chennai and final stages in Hong Kong and Tokyo.
^b The 2017 Asian Women's Trophy tournament was held in Vientiane, Laos
^c The 2020 series was cancelled before any events were held, due to impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
^d Incheon, Huizhou and Colombo were originally scheduled as legs of the 2021 series. [1] Due to impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, all three of those events were cancelled and replaced – initially by two events planned for Dubai, [2] but eventually by just one event in Dubai. [3]
Winners of the Asian Women's Sevens Championship:
Year | Venue | Winner | Refs |
---|---|---|---|
2000 [a] | Hong Kong | ![]() | |
2001 | Hong Kong | ![]() | |
2002 | Hong Kong | ![]() | |
2003 | Hong Kong | ![]() | |
2004 | Almaty | ![]() | |
2005 | Singapore | ![]() | |
2006 | Tashkent | ![]() | |
2007 | Doha | ![]() | |
2008 | Hong Kong | ![]() | |
2009 | Pattaya | ![]() | |
2010 | Canton | ![]() |
Year | Venue | Winner | Refs |
---|---|---|---|
2011 | Pune | ![]() | |
2012 | Pune | ![]() | |
2013 | two rounds | ![]() | |
2014 | ![]() | ||
2015 | ![]() | [4] | |
2016 | three rounds | ![]() | |
2017 | two rounds | ![]() | |
2018 | three rounds | ![]() | |
2019 | three rounds | ![]() | |
2020 | Not contested | ||
2021 | Dubai | ![]() | |
2022 | three rounds | ![]() | |
2023 | two rounds | ![]() | |
2024 | TBD |
Notes:
Year | Host | Winner | Refs |
---|---|---|---|
2017 | ![]() | ![]() | [5] |
2018 | ![]() | ![]() | [6] |
2019 | ![]() | ![]() | [7] |
2021 | ![]() | ![]() | |
2022 | ![]() | ![]() | [8] |
2023 | ![]() | ![]() | [9] |
2024 | ![]() | ![]() | [10] |
Year | Host | Winner |
---|---|---|
2010 | ![]() | ![]() |
2011 | ![]() | ![]() |
2012 | ![]() | ![]() |
2013 | ![]() | ![]() |
2015 | ![]() | ![]() |
The 2007 South East Asia Sevens was held on 6 October 2007 in Singapore.
Teams | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 245 | 0 | +245 | Qualify for Cup final |
![]() | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 171 | 26 | +145 | |
![]() | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 40 | 125 | –85 | Qualify for Plate final |
![]() | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 32 | 118 | –86 | |
![]() | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 24 | 113 | –89 | Qualify for Bowl final |
![]() | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 130 | –130 |
Bowl Final
Plate Final
Cup Final
The Hong Kong Sevens is a rugby sevens tournament held annually in Hong Kong on a weekend in late March or early April. Considered the premier tournament on the World Rugby Sevens Series competition, the Hong Kong Sevens is currently the seventh tournament on the World Series calendar. The tournament spans three days, beginning on a Friday and concluding on Sunday. The tournament is organised each year by the Hong Kong Rugby Union (HKRU). Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the tournament was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 respectively. The latest Hong Kong Rugby Sevens is being held on Friday 5 April, Saturday 6 April, Sunday 7 April 2024.
Rugby sevens is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players playing seven-minute halves, instead of the usual 15 players playing 40-minute halves. Rugby sevens is administered by World Rugby, the body responsible for rugby union worldwide. The game is popular at all levels, with amateur and club tournaments generally held in the summer months. Sevens is one of the most well distributed forms of rugby, and is popular in parts of Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas, and especially in the South Pacific.
Rugby World Cup Sevens (RWCS) is the quadrennial world championship of rugby sevens, a variant of rugby union. Organised by World Rugby, it currently consists of men's and women's tournaments, and is the highest level of competition in the sport outside of the Summer Olympics.
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The Sri Lanka Sevens is an annual international rugby sevens tournament held in Sri Lanka. Sponsored by telecommunications provider Dialog, the event has been part of the Asian Sevens Series since 2015. It was founded in 1999 as the Singer Sri Lankan Airlines Rugby 7s.
The Hong Kong national rugby sevens team is a regular participant in the Rugby World Cup Sevens. The team's greatest achievements include winning the gold medal at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta and winning the Asian Sevens Series in 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2022.
The Ireland national rugby sevens team competes in several international rugby sevens competitions. The team is governed by the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU).
Rugby union is not a major sport in Singapore. Singapore is currently ranked 58th in the world and 6th in Asia. As of February 2015, there over 12,000 registered players, with more than 2,000 women playing the sport. There are also 15 formally organised clubs with 4 registered Women's sides.
The Asia Rugby Sevens Series is an annual series of regional rugby sevens tournaments run by Asia Rugby featuring national sevens teams. It has been held regularly since 2009 to determine Asia's best men's national team in the sport of rugby sevens.
The Hong Kong women's sevens rugby union team represents Hong Kong at an international level and plays at the Hong Kong Women's Sevens and other international sevens tournaments.
The Ireland women's national rugby sevens team participates in international competitions such as the World Rugby Women's Sevens Series, the Rugby World Cup Sevens, the Rugby Europe Women's Sevens and Rugby sevens at the Summer Olympics. Unlike the Ireland women's national rugby union team, the sevens team is a professional team with players contracted to the Irish Rugby Football Union.
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The Belgium women's national rugby sevens team are a national sporting side of Belgium, representing them at Rugby sevens.
The 2019 Asia Rugby Women's Sevens Series was the twentieth edition of Asia's continental sevens tournament. The series was played over three legs in South Korea, China, and Sri Lanka.
The 2021 Asia Rugby Sevens Series was a rugby sevens tournament held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates in late November 2021. Following the cancellation of the 2020 series due to impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was the twelfth edition of Asia's continental sevens circuit. The event acted as a qualifier for the 2022 World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series in Chile and the 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens in South Africa. Hong Kong and South Korea qualified for both events.
The 2021 Asia Rugby Women's Sevens Series was hosted as two tournament events in the United Arab Emirates in late November 2021. Following the cancellation of the 2020 series due to impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was the twelfth edition of Asia's continental sevens circuit. The first leg of the tournament was a qualifier for the 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens in South Africa. Japan and China qualified for the World Cup.
Natasha Shangwe Olson-Thorne is a Hong Kong rugby union player. She represented Hong Kong at the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup in Ireland, it was their first World Cup appearance. She scored Hong Kong's first World Cup try in their match against Wales.
The 2022 Asia Rugby Women's Sevens Series was the twenty secondth edition of the tournament. The series was played over three legs in Thailand, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates.