UAE Rugby has been rewarded for its decision to keep faith in young Emirati talent as they emerged victorious against Uzbekistan in the second leg of the HSBC Asian Sevens Series held in Thailand on Sunday.

Fielding an all-Emirati squad at the Thailand Sevens, UAE stormed into the Shield Final defeating Uzbekistan 21-10.

However, in the Shield final against India, they were beaten 31-10.

This means they finished in 14th place in the 16-team tournament.

UAE Rugby can take heart from the fact they not only field Emiratis but also fielded many players who were just 18 years old.

In the final against India, Ali Ghulam scored the first try and 18 year-old Suhail Yaquob playing for the first time scored UAE's second try.

"UAE's Fijian coach Epeli Lagilao gave the chance to every player to play.  Abdulla Alhajeri, Adel Alhendi, Majid Albalooshi and Suhail Yaqoub all of them who are aged 18 played well," said UAE Rugby Federation secretary general Qais Abdulla Al Dhalai.

The UAERF spokesman said compared to Thailand Sevens, the first leg of the Asian Sevens Series held a fortnight ago, it was a creditable performance.

"Comparing to Thailand Sevens with Malaysia Sevens, we’ve won a game here against Uzbekistan at the Shield semi and in the whole tournament we’ve scored six tries, five of which were converted, sometime you win off the pitch but this time we even win on the pitch" he pointed out.

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

UAE lost their opening match to Malaysia who had domiciled Fijians in their squad 26-7 and third ranked South Korea 40-0.

UAE lost to Laos in the Bowl quarter-final 21-12.

Japan beat Hong Kong in extra time to win Cup final

Meanwhile, Japan’s new sevens sensation Lomano Lemeki once again proved to be a match-winner as he scored the golden try in sudden death to give his team a thrilling 17-12 victory over Hong Kong in the Cup final.

Lemeki, who was named player of the tournament in Malaysia earlier this month, scored 11 tries in Thailand to continue his star turn for Japan. 

Both Japan and Hong Kong had swept into the finals with crushing wins in their earlier games. Japan defeated Malaysia 38-7 in the quarter-finals before demolishing Sri Lanka 52-5 in the semi-finals to ease their way into the finale.

Hong Kong in turn looked impressive as they brushed aside Kazakhstan 31-0 before overcoming South Korea 27-0 to enter the final.

Meanwhile Sri Lanka’s resurgence this season continued to gather momentum as they swept into the Cup semi-finals for the second successive tournament with a composed 26-0 win over hosts Thailand.

Sri Lanka bounced back from their lethargic semi-final display to defeat South Korea 29-7 in the third place play-off thus avenging their loss at this same stage in the opening leg in Malaysia. 

It was the highest ever ranking for Sri Lanka in HSBC Asian Sevens Series play.