2015 Asian Sevens Series

2015 Asian Sevens Series
2015 Asian Sevens Series
Hosts	China; Thailand; Sri Lanka;
Date	5 September – 11 October 2015
Nations	12
Final positions
Champions	Japan
Runners-up	Hong Kong
Third	South Korea
Series details
Top try scorer	Goto, Teruya (22)
Top point scorer	Goto, Teruya
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The 2015 Asian Sevens Series was the seventh Asian Sevens Series held by Asia Rugby. The winner and runner-up of the competition gaining entry into the World Series qualifying tournament (to become a core team in 2017) at the 2016 Hong Kong Sevens.

The first leg of the 2015 Asian Sevens Series was held at the Tiantai Stadium in Qingdao on 5 and 6 September.^[1] The biggest surprise of that tournament was that for the first time since 2011 Hong Kong failed to make the finals, losing in the quarterfinals to the Chinese, 21–17. The Chinese were successful in the semi-finals defeating Sri Lanka 22–12 garnering their first cup final appearance against Japan, who defeated South Korea by 21–5 in their semi-final. The Japanese went on to win the Cup final by defeating the Chinese by 28–12.^[2]^[3] In the Plate final Hong Kong defeated Kazakhstan 27–0 and in the Bowl final UAE were successful against Singapore 15–7.

The second leg of the series was held in Thailand on 26 and 27 September. In this leg Japan, and South Korea, successfully made their way through the competition unbeaten. Japan coming from behind to win a tense encounter 24–19, against Hong Kong in the Semi-final, scoring a golden try in sudden death extra-time. Japan then repeated their earlier result in Shanghai, easily winning the Cup 45–7 against South Korea. The Plate final was contested between UAE and China, with China securing the Plate with a 26–5 victory, whilst in the Bowl final Thailand defeated the Philippines 24–19.

The last leg was held at the Colombo Racecourse in Sri Lanka on 10 and 11 October. Japan booked their berth in the Cup final with a 31–5 victory over China in the quarter-final and a hard-fought 26–19 win over hosts Sri Lanka in the semi-final. Hong Kong beat Chinese Taipei 33–5 in their quarter-final before hammering Malaysia 38–7 in the semi-finals. Hong Kong’s path to the final was made easier by the shock loss of South Korea to Thailand in the preliminary rounds. Japan secured a clean sweep of the series winning their third Cup by defeating Hong Kong 29–22. South Korea won the Plate final, with a 17–10 victory over Chinese Taipei.

The winner of the 2015 Asian Sevens Series was Japan, who won all three legs, the remaining places on the podium went to Hong Kong and South Korea, with their final position determined by the difference of points.^[4]^[5]

Tour venues

2015 Venues
Leg	City	Dates	Cup	Plate	Bowl
China	Qingdao	5–6 September 2015	Japan	Hong Kong	United Arab Emirates
Thailand	Bangkok	26–27 September 2015	Japan	United Arab Emirates	Philippines
Colombo	Colombo	10–11 October 2015	Japan	South Korea	United Arab Emirates

Standings

2015 Standings
Pos.	Country	China	Thailand	Sri Lanka	Overall
	Japan	12	12	12	36
	Hong Kong	8	10	11	29
	South Korea	10	11	8	29
4	Sri Lanka	9	9	10	28
5	China	11	8	6	25
6	Malaysia	5	5	9	19
7	United Arab Emirates	4	7	4	15
8	Singapore	3	6	3	12
9	Thailand	2	4	5	11
10	Philippines	6	3	2	11
11	Kazakhstan	7	2	-	9
12	Chinese Taipei	1	1	7	9