# Asia Rugby Women's Sevens Series

The Asia Rugby Women's Sevens Series is the regional championship for women's international rugby sevens in Asia. Initially contested as a single tournament, the championship was expanded into a two-tournament series in 2014. The competition is sanctioned and sponsored by Asia Rugby, which is the rugby union governing body for the region.
The first official regional 7s championship for international women's teams from Asia was held in Hong Kong, played as part of the 2000 Hong Kong Sevens tournament. In 2003, ten international teams competed in a separate tournament for the Asia Champions Cup, with six teams progressing to the Hong Kong Women's Sevens. Since then, the regional 7s championships have periodically served as pre-qualifying competitions for the Rugby 7s World Cup, or other sevens tournaments.

## Background

Rugby sevens – also known as 7-a-side, or 7s – is a short form of the sport of rugby union that was first played in 1883. The first (men's) internationals took place in 1973. As women's rugby union developed in the 1960s and 1970s the format became very popular as it allowed games, and entire leagues, to be developed in countries even when player numbers were small, and it remains the main form the women's game is played in most parts of the world.
However, although the first women's international rugby union 15-a-side test match took place in 1982, it was not until 1997 before the first women's international 7s tournaments were played, when the 1997 Hong Kong Sevens included a women's tournament for the first time. Over the next decade the number of tournaments grew, with almost every region developing regular championship competitions. This reached its zenith with 2009's inaugural women's tournament for the Rugby World Cup Sevens, shortly followed by the announcement that women's rugby sevens would be included in the Olympics from 2016.

## Tournaments
### Asia Rugby Women's Sevens Series

Tournaments that have featured as ranking events in the Asia Rugby Women's Sevens include:
* China Women's Sevens
* Hong Kong Women's Sevens
* India Women's Sevens
* Korean Women's Sevens
* Sri Lanka Women's Sevens
* Thailand Women's Sevens
* Dubai Women's Sevens
The continental title was contested in a single tournament from 2000 to 2012 (Asia Rugby Women's Championship). The Asian Women's Sevens Series was introduced in 2013.
| Host Year | China | Hong Kong | India | Korea | Malaysia | Singapore | Sri Lanka | Thailand | United Arab Emirates | Ranking events |
| 2013 | | | Pune | | | | | Bang Saen | | 2 |
| 2014 | Beijing | Hong Kong | | | | | | | | 2 |
| 2015 | Qingdao | | | | | | Colombo | | | 2 |
| 2016 | | Hong Kong | | Incheon | | | Colombo | | | 3 |
| 2017 | | | | Incheon | | | Colombo | | | 2 |
| 2018 | | Hong Kong | | Incheon | | | Colombo | | | 3 |
| 2019 | Huizhou | | | Incheon | | | Colombo | | | 3 |
| 2020 | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic |
| 2021 | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Dubai | 1 |
| 2022 | | | | Incheon | | | | Bangkok | Dubai | 3 |
| 2023 | | | | Incheon | | | | Bangkok | | 2 |
| 2024 | TBC | TBC | TBC | TBC | TBC | TBC | TBC | TBC | TBC | TBC |
| Total | 3 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 23 |
Notes:
^a A separate Olympic Asian qualification series was held in 2015 with a pre-qualifying stage hosted in Chennai and final stages in Hong Kong and Tokyo.
^b The 2017 Asian Women's Trophy tournament was held in Vientiane, Laos
^c The 2020 series was cancelled before any events were held, due to impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
^d Incheon, Huizhou and Colombo were originally scheduled as legs of the 2021 series. Due to impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, all three of those events were cancelled and replaced – initially by two events planned for Dubai, but eventually by just one event in Dubai.

#### Champions

Winners of the Asian Women's Sevens Championship:
| Year | Venue | Winner |
| 2000 | Hong Kong | Kazakhstan |
| 2001 | Hong Kong | Kazakhstan |
| 2002 | Hong Kong | Kazakhstan |
| 2003 | Hong Kong | Kazakhstan |
| 2004 | Almaty | Kazakhstan |
| 2005 | Singapore | Kazakhstan |
| 2006 | Tashkent | China |
| 2007 | Doha | Kazakhstan |
| 2008 | Hong Kong | Japan |
| 2009 | Pattaya | China |
| 2010 | Canton | China |
| Year | Venue | Winner |
| 2011 | Pune | China |
| 2012 | Pune | Fiji |
| 2013 | two rounds | Japan |
| 2014 | two rounds | China |
| 2015 | two rounds | Japan |
| 2016 | three rounds | Japan |
| 2017 | two rounds | Japan |
| 2018 | three rounds | Japan |
| 2019 | three rounds | Japan |
| 2020 | Not contested | Not contested |
| 2021 | Dubai | Japan |
| 2022 | three rounds | China |
| 2023 | two rounds | Japan |
| 2024 | TBD | TBD |
Notes:
* ↑ From 2000–2003 the tournaments were played as part of the Hong Kong sevens tournament.

### Asia Rugby Women’s Sevens Trophy

| Year | Host | Winner |
| 2017 | Laos | South Korea |
| 2018 | Brunei | Malaysia |
| 2019 | Indonesia | Philippines |
| 2021 | Qatar | United Arab Emirates |
| 2022 | Indonesia | Singapore |
| 2023 | Qatar | United Arab Emirates |
| 2024 | Nepal | Philippines |

### Asia Pacific Women’s Sevens Championship

| Year | Host | Winner |
| 2010 | Malaysia | Kazakhstan |
| 2011 | Malaysia | Papua New Guinea |
| 2012 | Malaysia | Australia |
| 2013 | China | China |
| 2015 | Malaysia | Japan |

## 2007 South East Asia Sevens

The 2007 South East Asia Sevens was held on 6 October 2007 in Singapore.

### Group Stage

| Teams | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | |
| Thailand | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 245 | 0 | +245 | Qualify for Cup final |
| Singapore | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 171 | 26 | +145 | Qualify for Cup final |
| South Korea | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 40 | 125 | –85 | Qualify for Plate final |
| Laos | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 32 | 118 | –86 | Qualify for Plate final |
| Cambodia | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 24 | 113 | –89 | Qualify for Bowl final |
| Cambodia Select | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 130 | –130 | Qualify for Bowl final |
| Cambodia | 0–15 | South Korea |
| Singapore | 48–0 | Laos |
| Cambodia Select | 0–50 | Thailand |
| Cambodia | 7–7 | Laos |
| Thailand | 26–0 | Singapore |
| Cambodia Select | 0–10 | South Korea |
| Cambodia | 0–32 | Singapore |
| Thailand | 62–0 | South Korea |
| Cambodia Select | 0–15 | Laos |
| Cambodia | 0–59 | Thailand |
| Cambodia Select | 0–38 | Singapore |
| South Korea | 15–10 | Laos |
| Cambodia | 17–0 | Cambodia Select |
| Singapore | 53–0 | South Korea |
| Thailand | 48–0 | Laos |

### Classification Stage

Bowl Final
| Cambodia | 25–10 | Cambodia Select |
Plate Final
| Laos | 12–10 | South Korea |
Cup Final
| Thailand | 22–0 | Singapore |