24 Nov 2010

Kazakhstan and Japan win gold at Asian Games

8:09 am on 24 November 2010

Three days of exciting rugby at the Asian Games came to a dramatic climax with Kazakhstan beating hosts China 17-14 to claim the first ever Women's Sevens gold medal and Japan defending their men's crown by edging Hong Kong 28-21.

Captain Anna Yakovleva scored the winning try for the Kazakhstan women after top seeds China lost the ball over the line in the dying seconds to the dismay of the vocal crowd.

The men's final was equally enthralling with defending champions Japan seemingly on course for a comfortable win with two tries giving the top seeds a 21-7 half-time lead.

Hong Kong, though, had other ideas and bravely fought back to level the scores, only for Japan to score in the final moments of the game to seal the victory.

The battles for the bronze medals were equally tight with Korea's men scoring after the full-time hooter to beat China 21-14 and Thailand needing extra time to defeat Hong Kong 17-12 in the women's event.