Pakistan confirms participation in Asian Rugby Sevens Invitational

Delhiites can look forward to a fast and furious long weekend as top eight Asian rugby sevens teams including Pakistan battle it out for supremacy in the Asian Rugby Sevens Invitational Tournament. The two day high adrenalin championship will be played at the picturesque Delhi University North Campus grounds beginning tomorrow. The event, which is being treated as a test event en-route to the XIX Commonwealth Games 2010 Delhi, is also a part of the Asian Rugby Football Union Sevens Series.

Apart from India (host nation) and Pakistan, top ranked Asian team - Malaysia is also participating in the tournament. Other countries to participate in this event are Sri Lanka, Kazakhstan, Brunei, Iran and Uzbekistan. The event, to be played under the supervision of Ms. Beth Coatler, International Rugby Board Tournaments Manager and CWG Delhi 2010 technical delegate, is expected to increase awareness of this high-energy sport within India. The Indian Rugby Football Union is extremely pleased upon hosting the premiere championship.

Nearly 100 men and women volunteers who have travelled great distances across India, would also help in the smooth running of the event. The tournament will see 24 matches being played in two days. The duration of a single match is of 14 minutes and is played in two halves of 7 minutes each. Rugby Sevens, also known as seven-a-side, is the shorter variant of the Rugby Union, which consists of seven players a side instead of the usual 15. The matches are also of shorter duration and the sport is very popular in Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas especially in the South Pacific. Sevens, considered to be one of the most well distributed forms of rugby, was included in 2009 as an Olympic Sport and is expected to debut in the 2016 summer Olympics.