The Qatar Rugby national team will travel to Al Ain (UAE) for the Asia Rugby Development Sevens Tournament which will kick off tomorrow at the Al Ain Amblers ground.
The two-day, seven-a-side Asian tournament will host 12 men’s teams—Chinese Taipei, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Thailand, and the UAE.
An integral addition to the region’s rugby calendar, the tournament will focus on the ongoing development of emerging rugby nations through the sevens format.
The Development Sevens Series for both men  and women will be the second leg of the two tournament series with the other leg held last week in Chennai, India.
Qatar Rugby Federation is a full member of Asia Rugby (AR). Asia Rugby covers an area spanning Kazakhstan in the north to Indonesia in the south and from Lebanon in the west to Guam in the east—a territory of over 44 square million kilometres and home to more than 3 billion people.
Qatar Rugby is recognized as a leader of the game’s governance and development in Qatar.
“It’s important that we enter as many international meets as possible affording our players the opportunity to compete at such high levels. Tournaments like Al Ain also allow Qatar Rugby to measure up against the best from the region,” said Qatar Rugby boss Yousef al-Kuwari.
“With the inclusion of rugby at the 2016 Rio Olympics and 2020 Japan Olympics, World Rugby is focusing on Asia Rugby and Qatar is seen a major market with huge potential for the growth and development of the sport.
“Qatar as a member of Asia Rugby will bid for as many international competitions to be held in Doha. Currently we are in discussion with Asia Rugby about hosting the ARC Division III competition in early April. This would involve international teams from Lebanon and Iran touring our shores to take on our best XV’s” al-Kuwari said.
Speaking about the all-Qatari National Sevens team, Ali al-Malki, QRF general secretary, said: “We have a long-term program for our national side which we hope to implement very soon. We want youth participation as much as possible. Right now due to World Rugby player criteria we have selected a good composite team including Qataris from the 2006 Asia Games that will compete at Al Ain.”
When asked which team poses the biggest threat at Al Ain, al-Malki said: “The teams to watch are the top three from last week’s Chennai series. They include Chinese Taipei, Thailand and the Philippines. The UAE and Lebanon also look strong and always give us great rivalry.”
Senior Qatari player, Abdul Karem al-Muhannadi, told reporters: “I am really excited about the Asian Sevens in Al Ain. We have been preparing for this event since Dubai last year.”
When asked about his expectations, he said: “We want to win because the winner of the men’s series will win a place for their union to participate in the Asia Rugby Sevens Series later this year”.
Tomorrow’s games will commence at 11 am and conclude with the last game kicking off at 17:44 in the evening.
Saturday’s matches will start at 11 am and conclude with the finals being played at 17:00 (5th and 6th place decider), 17:22 (3rd and 4th place decider) and 17:44 hours (1st place and runner-up decider).