Hong Kong China, Japan eye Asia Rugby Emirates Sevens Series titles

Regional sevens action in Asia is set to get back underway this weekend as 24 teams converge on Colombo in Sri Lanka for the final leg of the Asia Rugby Emirates Sevens Series.

The series will mark the final weekend of international sevens action in the region before the HSBC SVNS Series commences in November in Dubai, with Hong Kong China and Japan looking to wrap the tournaments in the men’s and women’s tournaments, respectively.

The Asia Rugby Emirates Sevens 2026 Series kicked off back in August at Suzhou, with Hong Kong China and Japan coming into the tournament as respective defending champions of the men’s and women’s tournament.

The Sakura sevens side, the only SVNS Series qualified team in the tournament, breezed through their pool matches, defeating Uzbekistan 59–0 in the quarterfinals and Thailand 26–10 in the semifinals.

Facing hosts and 2026 SVNS 2 qualifiers China in the final, who incredibly made it the final without conceding a point against them in the pool stages and knockouts, Japan ultimately showed their class, winning 24-7.

Thailand meanwhile secured the bronze medal with a 17-12 defeat of Hong Kong China, with Kazakhstan defeating India in the fifth place playoff and the United Arab Emirates defeating Uzbekistan in the seven placed playoff.

The men’s tournament saw similar results for Hong Kong China, the 2025 SVNS 3 qualifiers making it through their pool matches unscathed, before big wins over Malaysia and Korea to get to the final.

Facing the Japan men’s side in the final, who defeated Sri Lanka 17-0 in the quarterfinals and China 36-5 in the semifinals, Hong Kong China ultimately proved too strong in attack, running out 19-7 winners, with China securing the bronze medal with a 24-19 win over Korea.

With the tournament taking a break in September due to the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games – the men’s and women’s tournaments also dominated by Hong Kong China, Japan and China – all eyes now turn to the final weekend in Colombo, where the winners of both respective competitions will be crowned.

The winners of each respective tournament will also go through to the SVNS 3 tournament later this year with higher honours on the table – though if the Sakura are crowned champions, the honour will go to the next highest team that is not qualified in the SVNS Series or SVNS 2 competitions

Sri Lanka has been regular and popular stop over for the Asia Rugby Emirates Sevens Series, having previously hosted events in 2019 before returning to the circuit last year.

While Hong Kong China and Japan will likely be favourites to claim results this weekend, the strong performances from the likes of China and Thailand will mark them as sides to watch, especially with chances for higher qualification still open even if they don’t walk away with the champion’s crown.