Japan, Korea in Asian Final

Thailand win thriller

In the second playing day at the 19th Asian RFU tournament in Hong Kong, Japan and Korea won their way into the final of the Cup while Thailand won a thriller against Kazakhstan.

Japan had to battle to beat Hong Kong but ran out reasonably comfortable winners while Korea had an expansive victory over Chinese Taipei. This sets up a repeat of the 2002 Final when Japan and Korea met. On that occasion Korea surprised the rugby world by Winning.

The victories of Thailand and Singapore mean that the two will meet in the Plate Final while Wednesday's winners, Sri Lanka and China will meet in the Final of the Bowl.

Thursday's Results:

Thailand v Kazakhstan, 37-36
Singapore vs Arabian Gulf, 32-6
Japan vs Hong Kong, 40-12
Korea vs Chinese Taipei, 63-7

The match between Thailand and Kazakhstan could hardly have been closer. At half-time the teams were tied 12-all. The teams scored six tries each.

Scorers:

For Thailand:
Tries: Phaksoontorn Chatree, Wongwanichsilp Nantawat, Nongwa Theerapol 3, Kuasint Tanyavit
Cons: Phaksoontorn Chatree 2
Pens: Phaksoontorn Chatree

For Kazakhstan:
Tries: Alexander Polkovnikov 2, Anton Rudoy, Grigoriy Ivanchenko, Vladimir Chernih, Ivan Ossikovskiy
Cons: Ivan Galushkin, Evgeny Sazonov 2

Singapore were too well organised for Arabian Gulf whose travelling was such that they had not time for even a single practice. They scored in the second minute and added a penalty to lead 10-0 after seven minutes. At half-time Singapore led 21-6.

Scorers:

For Singapore:
Tries: Andrew Kagoro 2, Chin Hong Tong
Con: Mohd Ismail
Pens: Mohd Ismail 4, Robert Murphy

For Arabian Gulf:
Pens: Jimmy Larsen 2

Korea led 34-0 at half-time against Chinese Taipei. In the match they scored ten tries to one, including a penalty try.

Scorers:

For Korea:
Tries: Chang Min Dark, Min Suk Yoo, Kwang Moon Lee, Penalty try, Woo Sik Shin, Hwan Myung Yong, Kyoung Ku Kim, Sung Soo Kim, Young Keun Kim 2
Pens: Jong Man Chun 2
Cons: Jong Man Chun 6, Youn Hyung Oh

For Chinese Taipei:
Try: Chih Ming Pan
Con: Chi Chung Chen

Japan led Hong Kong only 12-9 at half-time but in the end they were too good, scoring six tries to none.

Scorers:

For Japan:
Tries: Akihito Kato, Aston Crawford, Adam Parker, Yasunobu Negishi, Kenji Kura, Eiji Yamamoto
Cons: Masahiro Nakase 5

For Hong Kong:
Pens: Robert Naylor 4

Final fixtures:

Saturday, 30 October at King's Park, Hong Kong:

Bowl:

3rd/4th:
India vs Pakistan
Referee: Steve Scott (Arabian Gulf)

Final:
Sri Lanka vs China
Referee: Kazuhito Taniguchi (Japan)

Sunday, 31 October at the Hong Kong Football Club, Hong Kong:

Friendly:
Pakistan vs Macau
Referee: Kuang-chung Huang (Chinese Taipei)

Plate:

3rd/4th:
Arabian Gulf vs Kazakhstan
Referee: Nizam Jamaldeen (Sri Lanka)

Final:
Singapore vs Thailand
Referee: Masahiro Sakuraoka (Japan)

Cup:

3rd/4th:
Chinese Taipei vs Hong Kong SAR
Referee: Sam-Young Jung (Korea)

Final:

Korea vs Japan
Referee: Blair Collier (Hong Kong)