India to play Philippines in Asian 5 Nation Rugby final

New Delhi: Hosts India stormed into the final of the HSBC Asian Five Nation Rugby Division II event on Wednesday,

crushing China 94-0 in the tournament opener at the flood-lit Delhi University Rugby Stadium here. The Naseer Hussain-led Indian side put up a fantastic display and outplayed the formidable Chinese in all departments of the game. With this win, India are one just step away from progressing to the Division-I. India will play Philippines in the summit clash on Saturday and a win there would ensure their place in the Division-I for the first time in the history of the game. Oliver Saunders top-scored as Philippines got the better of top seeds Thailand 53-33 in the other match of the day. China and Thailand will face off each other in the third-fourth place play-off match on Saturday and the loser will be relegated to Division III. In the India-China encounter, the hosts opened the scoring with back-to-back penalties before Kayrus Unwala scored the home team`s first try. The 51st-ranked Chinese were no match for a fitter Indian team, who are way below in world rankings in the 84th position. The hosts capitalised on the hot and humid weather conditions and made the Chinese pay by racing to 44-0 at the end of the first half. Egged on by an enthusiastic crowd, India dominated the entire 80 minutes and never allowed the Chinese to gain momentum and come back in the match. Kayrus Unwala, Rohaan Sethna and Parvinder Singh scored two tries each, while Gautam Dagar, Pritom Roy, Sandeep Singh and Puneet Krishnamoorty scored one each. India captain Nasser Hussain credited the victory to team effort. "We played a fantastic game and stuck to our strategy. All the players played a team game and we were well prepared. For our next game we need to cut on our errors and if we can do that, we will have a good chance of winning the tournament," Hussain said after the match. PTI