mens
Sevens
Regional action of the week in Asia will return this weekend as 24 teams converge on Colombo in the Sri Lanka for the final match of the Asia Rugby Emirates Sevens Series.
The series will mark the final weekend of international weekly action in the region before the HSBC SVNS Series kicks off in November in Dubai, with Hong Kong China and Japan looking to wrap the tournament into the men’s and women’s tournaments, respectively.
The Asia Rugby Emirates Sevens 2026 series kicked off in Suzhou in August, with Hong Kong, China and Japan entering the tournament as the defending champions in the men’s and women’s tournaments.
Team Sakura Seven, the only qualified SVNS Series team in the tournament, cruised through their pool matches, defeating Uzbekistan 59-0 in the quarterfinals and Thailand 26-10 in the semi-finals.
Facing host and 2026 SVNS 2 qualifier China in the final, who incredibly made it to the final without conceding a point against them in the pool and knockout stages, Japan eventually showed their class, winning 24-7.
Thailand, meanwhile, secured the bronze medal by defeating China from Hong Kong 17-12, with Kazakhstan devastating India in the fifth place of the playoffs and United Arab Emirates defeating Uzbekistan in the seventh place playoff.
The men’s tournament saw similar results for Hong Kong China, qualifying for SVNS 3 2025 coming through their pool matches unscathed, before big wins over Malaysia and Korea for placement in the finals.
Facing Japan’s men’s side in the final, which defeated Sri Lanka 17-0 in the quarter-finals and China 36-5 in the semi-finals, Hong Kong China ultimately proved too strong in attack, running out 19-7 winners, with China securing the bronze medal with a 24-19 win over Korea.
With the tournament on hiatus in September for the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games – the men’s and women’s events are also dominated by Hong Kong China, Japan and China – all eyes are now on the final weekend in Colombo, where the winners of both events will be crowned.
The winners of each respective tournament will also advance to the SVNS 3 tournament later this year with higher honors on the leaderboard – though if Sakura are crowned champions, the honor will go to the next highest team that didn’t qualify in the SVNS Series or SVNS 2 competitions
Sri Lanka has been a regular and popular stop for the Asia Rugby Emirates Sevens Series, having previously hosted the event in 2019 before returning to the circuit last year.
While Hong Kong China and Japan are likely to be favorites to win this weekend’s results, strong performances from the likes of China and Thailand will mark them as sides to watch, especially as the chances of further qualification remain open even if they don’t walk away with the championship crown.
