Tashkent, May 17: India’s senior men’s team secured the silver medal while the women’s side finished fourth at the inaugural CASA (Central Asia and South Asia) Rugby 7s 2026 held here, marking a positive start to the international season for the country.
The men’s team impressed throughout the tournament, winning four consecutive matches to book their place in the final.
India opened their campaign with victories against hosts Uzbekistan (24-12), Kyrgyzstan (31-0), Mongolia (26-14), and Pakistan (20-14), remaining unbeaten until their final round-robin fixture against Sri Lanka (12-33).
The side once again faced Sri Lanka in the tournament final, eventually securing the silver medal after a 10-31 result in the title clash to conclude an encouraging campaign under newly-appointed head coach Paul Albaladejo.
The senior women’s squad, featuring several young and emerging players identified through the domestic circuit and the Nationals, showed character across the competition despite a difficult start against Uzbekistan (7-22) and Kazakhstan (7-19) on day one.
The squad responded strongly with a dominant 72-0 victory over Kyrgyzstan before continuing their momentum on day two with a 33-0 win against Mongolia.
One of the standout performances of the tournament came against eventual champions Sri Lanka, with the Indian women’s team handing them their only defeat through a dramatic 22-19 victory secured by a last-minute try from Mahak.
India, eventually, ended in fourth place following a closely fought 14-20 result against hosts Uzbekistan in the third-place playoff.
Reflecting on the tournament, Rugby India President Rahul Bose said, “CASA 7s has been an important start to the international season for both our men’s and women’s programmes. The tournament provided valuable competition exposure, and there were several encouraging performances across both squads as we continue building towards the rest of the 2026 season.”
Mahak was crowned the CASA 7s Women’s Player of the Tournament after finishing as India’s leading scorer with nine tries across the campaign.
For the men’s team, David Munda and Sumit Kumar Roy led the scoring charts with four tries each, while Devendra Padir and Hitesh Dagar added three tries apiece during the tournament.
Captain Parbati Hansdah also contributed 12 conversions for the women’s team in the tournament officially sanctioned by Asia Rugby and World Rugby. (PTI)
