SINGAPORE: Malaysia’s hopes of winning their first-ever SEA Games gold in the men’s rugby Sevens were dashed by the Philippines at the Choa Chu Kang Stadium.
Malaysia, who narrowly lost 14-10 to the Filipinos earlier in the preliminary rounds, were outplayed 24-7 in the final.
Having a number of players who had played in Japan and the United States, the Philippines won by four tries and two conversions.
Patrice Olivier, Justin Coveney, Matthew Saunders and Harry Morris scored the tries while Jake Gerald Letts and Alexander Vincent Aronson made the conversions.
Malaysia managed to score a try through Zulkiflee Azmi and a conversion by Mohd Fairus Abdul Rahman.
Malaysian coach Nik Safuan Nik Man admitted that the Filipinos were just too strong.
“We only trained for 47 days for these Games. We are happy with the silver despite the lack of training and competitions.
“We did better than the bronze we won in 2007 (Korat SEA Games in Thailand),” said Nik Safuan.
In the women’s competition, Thailand thrashed Singapore 39-0 to emerge champions.
In the bronze medal playoff, the Philippines whipped Malaysia 22-0.
The Star Online
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