Full Fan Guide to Asia Rugby Emirates Sevens Series 2025 Leg 1 Hangzhou
rugbyasia247
Posted On September 18, 2025
The Asia Rugby Emirates Sevens Series 2025 Leg 1 takes place from 20-21 September in Hangzhou, China, at the Hangzhou Normal University, and the expanded format sees 12 women’s and 12 men’s teams involved competing across two legs.
Image Credit – Asia Rugby
The Asia Rugby Emirates Sevens Series 2025 top-placed men’s and women’s teams will earn qualification to the new World Rugby HSBC SVNS Division 3 2026.
With only one qualifier up for grabs, the likely contenders among the men will be Hong Kong, China and Japan. In 2024, the HKCR Men completed the series undefeated to be crowned Asian champions, but in their recent matches in the Challenger 7s and the Melrose Claymore, they have been very tight games.
The Japan and China’s women’s teams are already part 2025-2026 HSBC World Rugby SVNS Series; so the next best finisher aside from those two in the ARESS will earn qualification. This means it is likely to be a two-team race between Hong Kong China and Thailand. The Chinese women did enough to be crowned Series Champions ahead of Japan last season.
The new teams to the Series in 2025 are the Philippines, Chinese Taipei, Sri Lanka, and Uzbekistan for the men, and the Philippines, India, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia for the women.
The second and final leg of the ARESS 2025 takes place in Colombo, Sri Lanka, from 18–19 October at the Racecourse Stadium. The details of the HSBC SVNS 3, which is due to take place in Jan 2026, still need to be confirmed by World Rugby
Pools – Asia Rugby Emirates Sevens Series 2025 Leg 1 Hangzhou
The new look format means every game is high-stakes. The teams are pooled in three groups of four, and only the pool winners and the best second-place team head to the semifinals (no quarterfinal knockouts).
Men
Pool A
- Hong Kong China
- Malaysia
- UAE
- Uzbekistan
Pool B
- Japan
- Thailand
- Singapore
- Sri Lanka
Pool C
- China
- Korea
- Phillipines
- Chinese Taipei
The Men’s schedule and results will be available via Asia Rugby.
Women
Pool D
- China
- Malaysia
- UAE
- Indonesia
Pool E
- Japan
- Kazakhstan
- Singapore
- Sri Lanka
Pool F
- Hong Kong China
- Thailand
- Philippines
- India
The Women’s schedule and results will be available via Asia Rugby.
Match Officials – Asia Rugby Emirates Sevens Series 2025
Asia Rugby confirmed the match officials for the leg as follows:
Referees: Aymen Jriji (Saudi Arabia), Craig Chan, Sunny Lee Chui Yan, Francesco Cammisa (Hong Kong China), Qu Shenggang (China), Dechdanai “Top” Wongyuen (Thailand), Ibuki Tetsuka, Hibiki Ikeda, Tetsuya Hirakawa (Japan), Christabelle Lim (Singapore), Wei Ming Lin “Sonny” (Chinese Taipei)
Referee management team:
- Dilroy Fernando, Referee Manager, Asia Rugby
- Taku Otsuki, Performance Reviewer, Japan
- Matt Rodden, Performance Reviewer, Hong Kong China
- Just Wang, TMO Singapore
Asia Rugby Emirates Sevens Series 2025 Squads
We try and provide as much information as we can about the teams and squads selected, and we will update this as information becomes available. Some unions have a habit of releasing squad details far too late or not at all, and they won’t be included here by the time of the tournament.
Singapore Women’s and Men’s Squads – ARESS 2025 Leg #1
Hong Kong China Women’s and Men’s Squads – ARESS 2025 Leg #1
Paul John (Programme Lead 7s Rugby for Hong Kong China) said the men and women have both had camps and training matches in China, and the men were also in Thailand playing Thailand, Singapore, and a representative team.
The squads are both settled teams with some young, good players selected and notably the return of Julia Mibuy Mba Oyana and Seb Brien, both returning to the respective women’s and men’s teams after long lay-offs from injury.
For the Men, Matt Rickard is in line to earn his debut 7s cap, and for the Women, AU King To.
Seb Brien is a co-captain and said of the challenge ahead of them, “We need to win to at least have the exposure to Challenger, which is always such a good tournament. But for us personally, we are proud to be the top-ranked team in Asia. It’s something we aim for when we do our goal setting at the start of the season – to be the number one side in Asia, that’s where we want to be, and that’s where we want to stay.”
Of the tough pool encounter for the women with Thailand, Paul John said, “It’s a tough group, and Thailand has been one of our main rivals over the last couple of years. It will be a really competitive game.”
You can read more in our collaborative article with Hong Kong China Rugby.
HKCR Women’s 7s Squad
AU King To*, AU YEUNG Sin Yi, Chloe CHAN, CHAN Stephanie Chor Ki, CHONG Ka Yan, Jessica EDEN, Shanna FORREST, LI Nim Yan Melody Blessing, NAM Ka Man, Julia Mibuy MBA OYANA, Natasha OLSON-THORNE, POON Hoi Yan, Gabriella RIVERS
*potential debut
HKCR Men’s 7s Squad
Michael COVERDALE (HKFC), Alessandro NARDONI (HK Scottish), James CHRISTIE (HK Scottish), Sebastian BRIEN (Sandy Bay), Callum McCULLOUGH (HKFC), LEE Ka To Cado (USRC Tigers), Bryn PHILLIPS (Kowloon), Matthew RICKARD* (Sandy Bay), Julien BOURRON (HKFC), Harry SAYERS (Valley), Liam HERBERT (USRC Tigers), FONG Kit Fung (Kowloon), Rory STEWART COX (HKFC)
*potential debut
Thailand Women’s and Men’s Sevens Squads 2025
The Thai women have rehired the former Head Coach Lote Raikabula. As we reported previously, the Thai Rugby Union laid out the key objectives for the men’s team to maintain their status in the series and the women’s team to rank among the top three in Asia.
Some of the threats among the women’s side are Wannaree Meechok and Dion Akwaja, but their top try scorer from the Challenger 7s Series, Jirawan Chutrakun, is unavailable as she recovers from an injury.
Sri Lanka Men’s & Women’s 7s Squads
The Sri Lankan men will be captained by former Vidyartha and Kandy Sports Club player Kavindu Perera, and Shamli Nawas is the Head Coach. For the women, the head coach is Asela Deshapriya, and the side will be captained by Randika Kumudumali
India Women’s Rugby 7s Squad
The Indian women’s 7s team now has a Head Coach in the form of former SA 7s women (and himself a Blitzbok), Paul Deport. He previously signed on to coach the Thailand women’s team a couple of seasons ago, but it did not pan out. He joins a growing contingent of South Africans at Rugby India.
The Indian women have been runner-up several years in a row in the Trophy Series, but the expanded format means they are now in the top tier in Asia for the first time, and their age-grade teams have been consistently improving at the regional tournaments. The captain is Shikha Yadav, and the vice-captain is Dumuni Marndi.
Captain Shikha Yadav said via Rugby India, “To lead India into the Asia Rugby Sevens Series for the first time is a huge honour. We’ve trained hard, we’ve built strong bonds, and now we’re ready to show that India belongs at this level. Playing in Hangzhou, against Asia’s best, will challenge us, but we’re determined to make every game count and inspire the next generation of Indian women in rugby.”
Paul Delport, Head Coach of the Indian Women’s Sevens Team, said, “This team has shown real character over the last month, consistently performing under pressure and working tirelessly in training. The Sevens Series is a significant step up, but it’s also a wonderful opportunity. Our focus is on playing brave, smart, and disciplined rugby, and using this platform to lay the foundation for India’s future in the global game.”
Shikha Yadav (Captain), Dumuni Marndi (Vice-Captain), Amandeep Kaur, Mama Naik, Ujjwala Ghuge, Akanksha Katkade, Guriya Kumari, Sandhya Rai, Bhumika Shukla, Sandhyarani Tudu, Nirmalya Rout, Arti Kumari, Kalyani Patil.
UAE Women’s and Men’s Asia Rugby Emirates Sevens Series 2025 Squads
Philippines Women’s and Men’s ARESS Squads
The Philippines teams have been in a ten-day camp in Manila preparing for the ARESS, and both teams won the Trophy edition last year.
The women are again coached by Hong Kong-based and Valley club’s Samantha Scott, and Darryl Suasua coaches the men.
Women:
Men
1 DYLAN DUNCAN DAVIES
2 CLIFFORD JOE DAWSON
3 RAFAEL ENRIQUE PHILLIPS
5 RICHARD NICHOLAS LEWIS
6 DAYTON MALACHI MARCEL MUAGUTUTIA KAUTAI AMANI-IOBU
7 HAMISH ROLAND HENRY SEDDON
8 KAI KRISTIAN LEDESMA STROEM
9 JASON CALE SCHIRMER
10 ETHAN TYLER MOXLEY
11 JORDAN LYRIC SANDOVAL
12 JONEL MADRONA
15 EDLEN HERNANDEZ
Indonesia Women’s 7s Squad
Japan Women’s and Men’s 7s Squads
The JRFU announced their Men’s squad for the ARESS 2025 first leg here. Phil Greening is the Men’s 7s Head Coach as the team will try and top the tournament.
Men: Ji-soo Lee, Koki Miyasaka, Kouta Nakama, Shotaro Tsuoka, Tomu Takamoto, Ryosei Takai, Toma SHIWACHI, Ryodai SHIRAKUNI, Yoshiyuki KOGA, Josua KEREVI, Naoya OGITA, Ren OUCHI, Haruhiko UEMURA
The Sakura 7s squad is confirmed here. Yuka Kanematsu continues as the Head Coach after an excellent first season in charge.
Women: Natsuki OUCHIDA. Marin KAJIKI, Mifuyu KOIDE, Haruna KONISHI, Chiaki SAEGUSA, Savannah BODMAN*, Michiyo SUDA, Hana NAGATA, Yume HIRANO, Himawari MATSUDA, Sakura MIZUTANI, Sakurako YAZAKI, Mayu YOSHINO
*We previously spoke to New Zealand-born Savannah Bodman, who is at the Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix and became Japan-eligible this year – she will be making her debut this weekend.
Korean Men’s ARESS Squad
Kim Chan Ju, Lee Jun Yi, Kim Hyun Jin, Kim Moo Geun, Kim Yo Han, Lee Jin Kyu, Jeong Yeon Sik, Noh Myung Soo, Lee Kyung Hwan, Park Geun Yu, Hwang In Jo, Kim Nam Uk, Park Jong Hyun
How To Watch the Asia Rugby Emirates Sevens Series 2025
The 7s tournament will be streamed live on Asia Rugby’s digital platforms, including Facebook and YouTube. The 7s will also be available on RugbyPassTV.
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