China and Malaysia will contest the Division II final of the HSBC Asian Five Nations 2009 in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday and the prize of promotion for next year after overcoming Pakistan and India respectively on Wednesday.
The Chinese, the top seeds in the four-team tournament, had to dig deep to overcome a brave Pakistan side 25-19 under a scorching Malaysian sun, while the hosts outlasted India to win 43-29. India and Pakistan, two of the most improved teams in the Asian Five Nations, will meet in the third place play-off to avoid relegation to Division III for 2010.
China did well to overcome the extreme conditions and a late night arrival on the eve of the match for the win, but they will need to improve further against the Malaysians who hit their stride in front of a strong mid-week attendance of 2,120.
The winner of the final will join Singapore, recently relegated from the elite Top 5 competition, Sri Lanka and Chinese Taipei in Division I in 2010, with Thailand replacing the promoted side in next year’s Division II.
Either India or Pakistan, who both fielded five debutants on Wednesday, will be replaced by the winner of the first Division III competition, which takes place in early July in Manila with hosts the Philippines, Guam, Iran and Indonesia the participating nations.
Pakistan put up a brave fight in the first half against a Chinese side occupying 44th spot in the IRB World Rankings and trailed only 15-12 at the interval. However the loss of a player to the sin-bin within a minute of the restart allowed China to stamp their authority on the match.
India battle to the finish
A penalty from Bo Zhou and then full back Zhen Chen’s try stretched the advantage to 25-12 and although Pakistan crossed for their third try of the match through Kashif Khawaha the chances of causing a huge upset had gone.
The second match between Malaysia and India was an entertaining affair with Mohd Fairuz Abd Rahman giving the hosts an early lead with a penalty in a match which saw the full back contribute 15 points of their 43 scored.
With Malaysia’s trio of Fijian-born players combining well in the centre and the right wing, the hosts consistently made ground in the backs despite some strong defence from India’s centre pairing of captain Nasser Hussain – who had moved from back row to inside centre – and Bikash Jena.
The match was still very much in the balance at half time with Malaysia leading 23-14, an advantage cut within minutes of the restart when Rohaan Sethna kicked a penalty. However Semi Sovunidakua then collected a nicely weighted kick from fly half Mahammad Faiz Shamsukidir to dot down in the corner for Malaysia.
Further tries from centre Timoci Nacokula and number 8 and captain Mohd Azwan Azimi increased that advantage to 40-17, but India refused to give up with the match already lost and score two tries in the final 10 minutes through Hussain and Ganesh Sawant.
An interesting spectator in the crowd with England’s record try scorer Rory Underwood, who returned to his boyhood home in Kuala Lumpur to visit the tournament after helping to launch this year’s HSBC Asian Five Nations in Hong Kong in April.
Huge boost for Malaysia
“In the first game between China and Pakistan both teams showed a lot of endeavour and determination and in the second game the standard of both teams was really great,” said Underwood.
“I have always said that what is great about the Asian Five Nations is the promotion and relegation, it doesn’t matter if you won or lost today, there is still everything to play for on Saturday. It is fantastic for the home side Malaysia to reach the final and I am really looking forward to Saturday’s matches.”
China will inevitably be favourites for the final given they are ranked 34 places above their hosts in the IRB World Rankings, but Malaysia coach Dean Herewini, after overseeing his first international victory in charge, is determined to show that the squad are worthy of playing in Division I next year.
“We are not quite where we want to be, but I think we showed some potential and what we can achieve. We will take the win today, but so will China and I think they will be happy to get a game under their belt after their late arrival,” said Herewini.
“Coming into the tournament, China was the team to beat and they still are. I also rated India as the dark horse and I think that was proven today. China is now squarely in our pathway for development.
“To measure ourselves to be worthy of Division I we need to perform. If we can do that against China, it would be a huge boost for Malaysian rugby. People will stand up and recognise that this team is going somewhere.”
