SEA 7s: Singapore’s men win first-ever title, women’s team finish second again

SINGAPORE — The Singapore men’s sevens team put up a strong case for their nomination for this August’s South-east Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur after they defeated Malaysia 19-7 in the South-east Asian Sevens final at the National Stadium on Saturday (April 15).

Both teams had emerged top of their respective groups in the preliminary rounds on Friday but it was Singapore who rattled their Causeway opponents in the first minute when they were awarded a penalty try (7-0).

But the Malaysians gave themselves a confidence boost just before the break when forward Wan Izzudin Ismail scored a try which was then successfully converted (7-7).

However, it was Singapore all the way in the second half.

Teng Chong Yao extended Singapore’s lead after he caught skipper Marah Israf’s cross-field kick over the Malaysian defence and scored a try. Marah then converted to make it 14-7.

In the final minutes, Matthias Chia scored a try off a ruck to seal the win for Singapore’s first SEA Sevens crown.

“A lot of pride was at stake today because we were facing Malaysia so of course we’re very happy with the win,” said Maraf after the game.

“But while our current levels are good, we have a long way to go to the SEA Games.

“The end goal is the SEA Games, so this title means nothingif we don’t do well in Kuala Lumpur in August.”

Singapore won a bronze in the men’s sevens competition at the 2015 SEA Games which was held in Singapore and are eyeing the gold in Kuala Lumpur.

Meanwhile, the Singapore women’s team finished second for the second year running after they lost 0-34 to Thailand in their final.

Thailand proved too strong in the first half, as it raced to a 24-0 lead before putting another 10 points on the board after the break.