Indian Senior Women Secure Historic Fifth Place at the Round 2 of Asia Rugby Emirates Sevens Series 2026

Colombo, Sri Lanka, 18 October 2026: The Indian Senior Women’s Rugby Sevens Team delivered a strong finish to Round 2 of the Asia Rugby Emirates Sevens Series (ARESS) 2026 in Colombo, Sri Lanka, securing fifth place in the concluding round of the competition.

Under Head Coach Paul Delport, the team achieved several historic milestones in Colombo, breaking new ground against established opposition and recording landmark results.

India closed their campaign with back-to-back victories on Day 2, defeating the UAE 21-12 before securing a 19-12 win over fourth-ranked Thailand. The victory over Thailand was India’s first-ever against the South-East Asian side and helped the team record four wins in a single edition of the Series for the first time.

Delport said, “I’m incredibly proud of the way the girls performed in Colombo. Finishing fifth and securing our first-ever win against Thailand are significant achievements for this group. We showed that we can compete with established teams in Asia, and the players deserve a lot of credit for the work they have put in. There is still plenty of room to grow, but this performance gives us a strong foundation to build on.”

Rahul Bose, President, IRFU, added, “This is a historic day for Indian rugby. Team sport is a hard grind. Many times, the ultimate ranking doesn’t do justice to a team’s performance. This time it has. Our Indian women deserved to finish in the top 5 in Colombo. They showed killer instinct and never gave up. There is a long list of stakeholders to thank – from the Sports Ministry to sponsors to our stakeholders – our deep gratitude. As a federation we exist only to create all the conditions in which a player can give their all. We will continue to do so.”

The campaign also saw India break new ground on Day 1 of the group stage, when Shikha Yadav scored the team’s first-ever try against Japan’s Senior Women’s Team. Despite defeats to Japan and Hong Kong China, the team’s performance in Colombo added another significant milestone to its campaign.

India’s fifth-place finish in Colombo earned the team 12 points, taking their overall Series tally to 22 points after collecting 10 points in the opening round in Suzhou, China. The team finished sixth overall in the 2026 Series.

Shikha Yadav led India’s try-scoring charts in Colombo with four tries, followed by Kalyani Patil and Mama Naik with two tries each. Parbati Hansdah led the conversion tally with four successful conversions, while Bhumika Shukla contributed two.

Meanwhile, the Indian Senior Men’s Rugby Sevens Team finished 11th in Colombo, recording one win in six matches. The team concluded its campaign with a 29-5 victory over Uzbekistan, closing its ARESS Round 2 campaign on a winning note.