The UAE Under-18 youth national team was crowned Asian champion in rugby sevens competitions, after defeating the Hong Kong national team 26-0 in the final match of the tournament held in the Chinese city of Qingdao, to win the continental title for the third time in its history.
The UAE national team had a perfect run in the tournament, winning all of its matches. It topped Group B with victories over Kazakhstan, Chinese Taipei, Uzbekistan and China, before defeating Malaysia 17-5 in the semi-finals and clinching the title with a big win over Hong Kong in the final.
This victory adds to the record of the UAE Under-18 national team, which previously won the Asian title in 2023 and 2024, while it won the silver medal and second place in the 2022 edition, confirming its presence among the most prominent age-group teams in the continent.
In the Under-18 Girls’ Rugby Sevens competition, the UAE team finished in fifth place, after having previously won the Asian title three times in a row in 2021, 2022 and 2023.
The Secretary-General of the UAE Rugby Federation, Mohammed Sultan Al Zaabi, said that winning the Asian title for the third time is the result of the great support that Emirati sports enjoy, and the efforts made by the Federation’s Board of Directors, headed by Sheikh Mohammed bin Maktoum bin Juma Al Maktoum, to develop the game and build teams capable of competing.
He added: “Winning the Asian title for the third time confirms that the work we started in the youth sector is going in the right direction, and that investing in Emirati talents has begun to bear fruit. Our players proved in Qingdao that they have the character of a champion, after achieving victory in all the tournament matches, and presented strong levels and a high fighting spirit, and the decisive victory in the final against Hong Kong with a score of 26-0 was a well-deserved crowning achievement for this performance.”
Al Zaabi stressed that the current team represents an important foundation for the future, saying: “We are proud of this generation, and we are confident that these players will be an important core for the first team in the future. This title is not the end of the road, but rather a new milestone in the development process, and our ambition is to maintain the UAE’s presence at the forefront of Asian rugby, and to continue building strong teams at all age levels, capable of competing and winning more titles continentally and internationally.”
