UAE Rugby keep faith with Emirati youngsters for Thailand Sevens

UAE Rugby will continue their investment in Emirati youth in the second leg of HSBC Asian Sevens Series which takes place in Bangkok this weekend.

The Thailand Sevens will be played at IPE Stadium, Baeng Sen from September 20-22, 2013 in which 16 teams will be competing.

Joining the 12 core men’s teams (those participating at all four ranking tournaments in 2013), the host Union has invited Cambodia, India, Laos and Uzbekistan for a 16-team men’s field.

These non-core teams will play a round robin competition amongst themselves on day one to rank them from 13 to 16 in the tournament. On day two, they will play against the bottom ranked team in each Pool to contest the Bowl and Shield finals.

UAE have been drawn in Pool C with third-ranked South Korea, Malaysia and Cambodia.

Despite losing all four matches in the opening leg of the Asian Sevens Series in Malaysia a fortnight ago, the UAE Rugby Federation (UAERF) are steaming ahead with their policy of giving opportunities to Emiratis to gain experience on the international stage.

In Malaysia, UAE lost to Chinese Taipei 32-0 and Philippines 38-0 in the pool matches, and went down fighting to Singapore in the Bowl semifinal 15-7 before being beaten by China 41-0 in the 11th/12th place playoff.

However, UAERF are in the process of team building and not concerned about results as they work towards having a representative Emirati Sevens squad for the Asian Games in South Korea next year.

Although it is a work still in progress, they have already achieved results with the emergence of 18 year-old Abdulla Mubarak Al Hajri from Al Ain who is poised to make his debut at the Thailand Sevens.

He is one of the fruitful products of the HSBC's Player Pathway Program (PPP) begun more than a year ago.

The UAERF expressed it appreciation to Rugby Manager Wayne Marsters and Sami Samari, the UAERF Rugby Development Officer in Al Ain for their commitment towards growing the game of rugby among the Emirati youngsters.

UAERF Vice-Chairman Salman Hadi who will be leading the 17-member delegation at the Thailand Sevens said: "The UAERF is going again this time with a full Emirati team to the second leg of the Asian Sevens Series. I believe that we are making history for the UAE Rugby by having four out of the 12 players at an age of 18 years old."

Hadi expressed his gratitude to UAE's Performance Manager Epeli Lagiloa for his work in developing youngsters.

"Master Epeli Lagiloa has concentrated heavily during the last two months in preparing those youngsters to participate in the Asian Sevens Series," added Hadi.

Former Fiji national coach Lagiloa has intensified training since their return from Malaysia and made changes to the side.

UAERF secretary general Qais Abdulla Al Dhalai lauded HSBC for their contribution to help scout Emirati talent.

"Hats off to HSBC for their utmost commitment towards spreading out the sport of rugby within the Emirati youth population all over the UAE," he said pointing out to the emergence of future Emirati rugby stars.

"Marcus Hurry and Mohammed Ismael were both an inspiration behind the UAERF success and fully supporting in having Emirati youngsters making their international debuts and representing the nation at the rugby sevens. As we all witnessed last year with the appearance of Majid Albalooshi and this year with Saeed Al Mehairi, Shaheen Ismail, Suhail Yaqoob at KL 7s (Malaysia) and now again with Abdulla Al Hajri from Al Ain at the upcoming Bangkok Sevens," he said.

UAE squad

Abdallah Mubarak Mohammed Al-Hajri
Adel Mustafa Ahmed Alhaj Mohammed AlHendi
Ali Mohammed Ghulam
Yousef Ahmad Mohamed Ahmed Shaker
Cyrus Parviz Ali Asghar Pourhomayoun
Majid Mohammed Darwish Salem AlBalooshi
Saeed Ibrahim Bilal Abdulla Saad
Taleb Abdulrazzaq Yousuf AlKhaja
Hareb Hamdan Hareb Hamad Al Azri
Mohannad Ahmad Mohamed Ahmed Shaker
Walid Salem Mohamed Salem Salem Al Balushi
Suhail Yaqoob Abbad Ali Salah

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